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Boyle Heights Senior Allegedly Killed By 18-Wheeler's Hit-And-Run Driver

BOYLE HEIGHTS   (CBSLA) --  A Boyle Heights woman apparently was fatally struck by a hit-and-driver who was behind the wheel of a big rig.

CBS2's Dave Lopez spoke to the woman's devastated daughter.

"My mom has a normal  routine," said Ilene Kemper about her 69-year-old mom Cynthia Zsukala. "She  would come home to feed her cats."

The daughter explained that her mother would come home just before 10 p.m.  Home is a motor home. They've been living in it for four years after a fire destroyed their residence.

Kemper insisted on showing Lopez the exact location where her mother's body was found.

Zsukala was likely looking for one of her three cats.  Kemper said she never wanted the cats to go to bed hungry.

Kemper said she heard nothing unusual and her mother didn't scream. She said she heard nothing until sirens came into the area. The sirens woke her up.

When she went outside to investigate, that's when she said she found her mother's body.

Officials believe the driver knew he hit something but fled. Investigators know that the victim was under the vehicle on the passenger's side.

Zsukala went under the vehicle at some point, likely to reach for the cat.

For the past 15 years, Zsukala was a volunteer at the Mormon Food Bank in Boyle Heights.

"She loved anybody who needed help," said a colleague from the food bank.

 

 

 

 

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