HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — A new video shows the suspect in a deadly hit-and-run crash running from the scene in Cypress.
The crash killed Caleb Rickenbacker, 20, and injured his girlfriend, Christina Diaz, 20. It happened on Nov. 19 on Cypress Rosehill near Huffmeister.
The video, taken from a home surveillance camera, only lasts a few seconds, but Diaz hopes it's enough to catch the man responsible for causing the crash.
“It’s not right that the suspect is walking freely and he needs to be caught," Diaz said. “He really was the love of my life. Perfect in every way."
Before the crash, investigators said the suspect was in the parking lot of a Holiday Inn Express, off 45 and 99, breaking into cars. In fact, the car he was driving was stolen from outside the hotel.
Diaz is now home from the hospital and recovering from surgery. She still has staples in her stomach from ruptured intestines. She's sharing her story, hoping someone will turn the guy in.
“The guy was just coming at an insane speed and that’s just when Caleb swerved the car, there was no other way around it, it was either me or him,” she said.
The couple had just left a fast-food restaurant for breakfast and they were only a minute away from home.
“How is it that I had a ruptured intestine, I had bruised organs, I was barely able to breathe and somehow he was just able to get up and flee into the nearby neighborhood?" Diaz said.
Investigators said they found a backpack with evidence the suspect left behind.
Caleb’s parents spoke to KHOU 11 last week and said he was their only child. They are leaning on their faith.
“We believe in forgiveness. Please come and seek that," Melissa Rickenbacher said.
The girlfriend Caleb met at Buc-ee's said she will continue to be his voice, because he gave his life, so she could live hers.
“I know they are out there and if they are watching this, seek forgiveness, do the right thing, turn yourself in," Diaz said.
Constable Mark Herman said he's confident they will eventually make an arrest. He also said they have the same man on several other pieces of surveillance video. If you have any information, contact Precinct 4.