jlaconte@vaildaily. com
New main points have emerged about the hit-and-run that claimed the life of Edwards resident Mario Romero in the early morning hours of Jan. 7.
Authorities arrested 24-year-old Sidney Whitmarsh Thursday in Clarendon, Arkansas, in connection with the crash on U. S. Highway 6.
According to a court order dated March 1, a witness saw Romero leave the Main Street Grill on his bicycle around 1 a. m. January 7th. He reported her missing after failing to return home on Jan. 7 and was located through the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office. January 9 at approximately 2:23 p. m.
Romero’s image is located on the north side of Highway 6, near mile marker 165. 9, about 21 feet on the north side of the road along an embankment.
After discovering that Romero struck and killed through an unknown vehicle, the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office asked the Colorado State Patrol to resume the investigation.
Private Colin Remillard investigated the crash site; Remillard has been assigned to the Colorado State Patrol’s District Four Vehicular Crimes Unit since 2020 and has investigated 75 fatal crashes that time.
Rémillard testified that when he arrived at the scene, he observed white debris from a vehicle on the north shoulder of the road.
“I decided that the buffer was obviously on the shoulder of the road and not in the transit lane,” Rémillard said in the affidavit.
Remillard found a fog light with a component number about 14 feet from Romero’s body. A search for this component number revealed that it belonged to a 2010-2012 Subaru Legacy Outback.
On Jan. 11, Remillard saw surveillance video from Stop N Save at the corner of Highway 6 and Edwards Village Boulevard.
“The video shows an individual riding a motorcycle in front of the store on Highway 6 westbound at 1:18:43 a. m. m. ,” Remillard said in the affidavit.
A minute later, “what appears to be a white Subaru with the roof is shown driving past the store heading west on Highway 6. “
A report from a witness also reached the Colorado State Patrol on Jan. 11, stating that between 5:30 p. m. and at 5:45 p. m. on Jan. 9, the witness saw a vehicle with a broken front finish and a conceivable bicycle component stuck in the front of the car turning from Edwards Access Road to Miller Ranch Road.
Another report came Jan. 14 from a Colorado State Patrol victim advocate who had received text messages from a member of Romero’s family saying he had been told the suspect could be Sidney Whitmarsh.
“They said that she owned a vehicle that matched the description of the vehicle in question and that it could be hidden in a garage and that Ms. Whitmarsh could have fled Colorado for Alaska,” Remillard said in the affidavit.
Remillard later proved that Whitmarsh had a white 2012 Subaru registered in her name, discovered the address of her apartment complex in Edwards, and decided that she deserved to have stopped by the Eagle River Water and Sanitation District plant on Lake Creek Drive until she got home in January. 7. Rémillard learned that the factory was equipped with cameras and, On January 16, he saw the images of the factory on January 7.
“At approximately 1:21 a. m. , I observed what I felt to be a white Subaru with a trunk on the roof and the passenger lights off, in front of the factory and the parking lot at the apartment complex,” Remillard said in the affidavit. .
Remillard then began talking to former workers who worked with Whitmarsh. She learned Whitmarsh quit her assignment at the Boardroom Market Deli in Edwards on Jan. 7 and texted a colleague to tell him she “really missed him” the night before and would do it. Another of Whitmarsh’s co-workers, from his other assignment at Zino’s restaurant in Edwards, also said he hadn’t noticed her since Jan. 7.
Remillard then drafted a warrant to search the garage related to Whitmarsh’s business in Edwards. In executing the warrant, he found Whitmarsh’s vehicle.
“I observed that there was windshield damage on the passenger side, which corresponds to the collision with a pedestrian,” Rémillard said in the affidavit. “I also observed debris from the vehicle inside the vehicle that appeared to be the fog light housing. “
The Colorado State Patrol obtained another tip on Jan. 21, saying Whitmarsh showed her driving that night and said she was under the influence of alcohol.
A ping on the Whitmarsh telephone on Jan. 22 revealed that the Arkansas telephone.
Authorities arrested Whitmarsh Thursday in Clarendon, Arkansas. She faces a Class 3 felony for failing to remain at the scene of a turn of fate that resulted in death, a Class 6 felony for altering physical evidence, a Class 3 felony for vehicular murder, and a Class 2 misdemeanor for failing to report to police a turn of fate of a motor vehicle that resulted in death.
An initial court appearance has yet to be set for Whitmarsh.