Inset: Robert Rathvon (KOMO/YouTube). Background: The area in Poulsbo, Wash., where Robert Rathvon was killed by a hit-and-run driver (KCPQ/YouTube).
A Washington state man on his way to his parents' house after a "weeklong rotation" as an air ambulance pilot was mowed down by a hit-and-run driver while walking to a hotel. The person who plowed into the 35-year-old left him to die in the snow and rain — and is still at large, according to police.
"Somebody knows who did this," Crime Stoppers of Puget Sound Executive Director Jim Fuda told MyNorthwest.com this week about the 2023 death of Robert Rathvon.
Rathvon's family, along with Crime Stoppers, is offering a $50,000 reward for information that leads to the identification, arrest, and charge of the person responsible for the Camano Island native's death.
Crime Stoppers says Rathvon was walking back from a restaurant in Poulsbo to a hotel after pulling over to get some rest and have dinner; he had been driving to his parents' house on Camano Island, according to Crime Stoppers and his family.
"The night of his death, Rathvon had ended a weeklong rotation as a Life Flight pilot and was staying overnight at a local hotel," Crime Stoppers reported after Rathvon's death. "He went out for dinner and walked back to his hotel before midnight, but it is believed he was unfamiliar with the area and headed in the wrong direction, resulting in him being on the Finn Hill exit ramp."
Nearby surveillance footage captured Rathvon walking in the Viking Way and Finn Hill area after midnight when he was struck by a vehicle along the State Route 3 off-ramp to Northwest Finn Hill Road. "It was not until the sunrise in the morning that people saw his body beside the road and reported the incident," according to Crime Stoppers.
"Nobody stopped for him," Fuda told MyNorthwest. "It was nighttime of December 8, and he wasn't found until about 8 a.m. of the morning of December 9."
Rathvon's mom, Kathryn Rathvon, recounted this week how it was "very dark, very foggy, very rainy and snowy" on the night he was killed, which she believes led to "confusion in terms of where he was," MyNorthwest reports.
"The Medical Examiner said that he likely died within seconds and, as a parent, at least we know he wasn't suffering on the side of the road," Kathryn Rathvon said. "But it breaks our hearts that someone would hit him and run off, not even stop to see how he was."
Washington authorities say they are still investigating the hit-and-run and have received several tips over the years, but nothing concrete enough to lead them to a suspect, according to MyNorthwest.
"Without even knowing what happened or who hit Rob, we know Rob would want us to forgive the person," Kathryn Rathvon said. "And we do."
Crime Stoppers has asked anyone who may have been traveling in the area of the crash "at any time from just before midnight on December 8 to 6 a.m. on December 9" with dashcams to contact them as they "could be vital in this investigation."
"In addition, if you know anyone whose vehicle had damage to the front, expected to be on the passenger side of the front of the vehicle, or the hood and windshield, that information is valuable to detectives," Crime Stoppers asks.