Family pleads for information on hit-and-run that killed B.C. city councillor

One year after a city councillor from Merritt, B.C., was killed in a hit-and-run, her daughter has put out an emotional plea for information that could help authorities identify the driver involved.

Claire Newman was on her way to visit family when she was struck outside the community of Valemount on the night of July 4, 2023. She died at the scene at the age of 46.

On Tuesday, the RCMP released a video statement from Newman's daughter Lauren urging anyone with information on the hit-and-run to come forward and help bring the deceased's grieving loved ones "some peace of mind."

In the recording, she says the family has experienced "rough challenges" over the last year, and greatly missed having Newman's guidance.

"Not having my mother to talk to and be there to give me that advice really is a hard thing to deal with," she says.

Investigators believe Newman had stepped out of her vehicle along Highway 16 – near Lucerne Lake, close to the B.C.-Alberta border – when she was struck.

RCMP officers found her Nissan Frontier unlocked and running, with a dog inside. Newman's body was discovered down an embankment.

Authorities believe a 2016-2018 Jeep Cherokee was involved in the hit-and-run. Surveillance video captured a vehicle of that description driving east along the highway around midnight – not long after the crash – at the Parks Canada gate west of Jasper.

The RCMP said a headlight assembly from a Cherokee was also recovered from the collision site.

Despite those clues and the "exhaustive efforts" of investigators, the driver remains at large, the B.C. RCMP's Southeast District said in a news release.

In her video recording, Newman's daughter calls on the person involved in the crash that killed her mother to come forward.

"Car accidents happen all the time, cancers happen all the time, you name it happens all the time – but that doesn't mean you can't do the right thing and come forward and give people that closure that they need," she says.

The RCMP said anyone with information can contact the Valemount detachment at 250-566-4466 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.