Community Corner

Search On For Hit-And-Run Driver; Go Fund Me Set Up For Erika Strebel's Son

Funds will help to provide for the little boy Erika Strebel left behind.

As police still search for the hit-and-run driver who killed young mother Erika Strebel in a tragic Eastport accident in early November, loved ones have set up a GoFundMe page to help the little boy she left behind.

"We cannot forget her son Ayden," said Strebel's friend Elayna Jespersen, on a memorial Facebook page. "We ask that anyone who can, please be another one of Aydens Angels and make a donation to help his father and his family through the financial burden also left in the wake of the accident. Every little bit helps."

So far, $225 of the $5000 goal has been raised.

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"This tragedy is more then just a woman killed in a hit and run," Jespersen said. "There is a little boy without his mother and a father that now has to take on both roles as mom and dad physically, emotionally, and financially."

The GoFundMe site, she said, was created to help ease some of the financial burdens laid upon Strebel's family and also build savings for college and whatever Ayden might need. 

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"We ask that everyone please find it in your heart to make a donations and be another one of Aydens Angels," she said.

Strebel, 27, was killed and a man was injured during the hit-and-run accident.

Strebel and Barton were standing near Strebel’s disabled 1988 Jeep on the shoulder of the eastbound lane when they were struck by a vehicle that was traveling east on Montauk Highway, according to police.

The vehicle, which police said would have sustained front end damage, fled east on Montauk Highway. According to a police spokeswoman, the vehicle that hit them was believed to be large, like a sport utility vehicle or a pickup truck, and possibly metallic blue.

Detectives from the Suffolk County Police Vehicular Crime Unit are investigating the crash that occurred on Montauk Highway, near Old Montauk Highway, at about 9:05 p.m.

Strebel was taken by East Moriches Ambulance to Peconic Bay Medical Center in Riverhead where she was pronounced dead. Barton, 26, of East Moriches, was transported by Suffolk County Police helicopter to Stony Brook University Hospital where he is being treated for head and knee injuries, according to police.

After the tragedy, friends turned to the Facebook page to remember the young woman who touched their lives — and to express sorrow for the little boy she left behind.

Friends gathered hours after at the scene of the horrific accident, to place a cross where Strebel was killed.

Detectives have asked that anyone with information about the accident call the Vehicular Crime Unit at 631-852-6555 or call anonymously to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.

Do you have memories of Erika Strebel that you'd like to share, or a message you'd like to send to her friends and loved ones? Share your thoughts with Patch here in the comments section. Our hearts go out to her loved ones, and to her son.


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