March 29, 2024

Remembering Kellyann Boyce Hurlbert

Parallel stories unfolded in Traverse City last Thursday afternoon.
July 14, 2013


At F&M Park, under a gorgeous deep blue sky, a memorial service celebrated the life of Kellyann Boyce Hurlbert. Friends and loved ones remembered how the 29-year-old was as bright and sunny as the weather outside.

In what at times seemed more like a summer concert in a park, there were intervals of songs and funny stories and moving memories of the 29-year-old, who loved to dance, to tell jokes and to randomly send friends information about pandas via text message.

Her husband, Paul Hurlbert, remembered the joy his wife brought him, and also how she made him a better person in the five years he has known her.

"I have grown more in the past five years with Kelly than I did in the previous 23," he said.

The service ended with a memorial ride when hundreds of people cycled across Traverse City, from F&M Park to Hannah Park, in a way that was said to be "the only way Kelly would have wanted it, on bikes."

$50,000 REWARD

Meanwhile, Traverse City Police detectives have remained at work around the clock trying to solve the crime that took Hurlbert’s life.

The terrible hit and run crash occurred only a 100 feet or so away F&M Park, near the intersection of Washington and Railroad streets.

Even as the memorial service was about to begin, police announced the reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever is responsible for Hurlbert’s death had increased to $50,000.

As of Thursday morning, police had received 210 tips about the case.

Most of the tips are about vehicles with a little bit of damage, Capt. Brian Heffner said.

He said detectives welcome those calls and are checking out those tips.

Heffner said investigators also welcome the large reward offered in the case. He said investigators hope it gives someone incentive to come forward with the piece of information they are looking for.

"We haven’t gotten the tip that we’re waiting for yet, which is someone who definitively knows," Heffner said. "Anything we can do to get this person to step forward helps."

SOMEONE KNOWS

And that’s the thing about the case. It seems almost certain there is someone out there who knows something that could solve it.

Perhaps it is a person who knows something and doesn’t believe it’s significant.

It might be about something they saw on Washington Street around the time of the crash, which occurred at around 1:56 a.m., or it might be someone who noticed a dark or silver colored SUV or pickup truck with front-end damage, particularly on the passenger side.

Perhaps someone knows something they are afraid to come forward about, something about a friend or relative whose actions that early morning are difficult to explain or are suspicious.

Heffner also announced this week that detectives received information about a silver SUV being involved in the crash. That doesn’t rule out the possibility it was a dark colored SUV or pickup, however, police have merely expanded the scope of their search.

The detectives assigned to the case can be reached at 231-995-5152 or tipsters may remain anonymous by calling the Silent Observers at 231-947-TIPS (8477).

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