'Do the right thing': Daughter of Merritt councillor killed in hit-and-run appeals to driver

The daughter of a Merritt city councillor killed in a hit-and-run a year ago has issued an emotional appeal for the driver to come forward. Claire Newman, 46, was travelling to see family when she was struck by a vehicle near Valemount on July 4, 2023. Her body was found in a ditch on Highway 16 near Lucerne Lake the next day. Police at the time said they were responding to an automatic cell phone crash notification https://infotel.ca/inwheels/merritt-city-councillor-dies-in-collision/it99239 and found her Nissan Frontier running with a dog inside but no other vehicles around. Officers did find the headlight from a 2016 or 2018 Jeep Cherokee nearby and suggested it belonged to the vehicle that hit her while she was outside her vehicle. The person responsible remains at large. Lauren Newman, Claire’s daughter, created an emotional video asking anyone with information about the hit-and-run to come forward. "We have come through a lot of rough challenges over this year. We have had her service on September 2023. Lots of people came and said beautiful things and were very honouring of her," Lauren said in the video. "Not having my mother to talk to and be there to give me that advice really is a hard thing to deal with and shouldn't have been this way that she passed. "Car accidents happen all the time. Things happen all the time. But that doesn't mean you can't do the right thing and come forward and give people the closure they need." RCMP said help from the community is crucial to bring closure to the family and justice for Claire. Police are urging anyone with information about the incident, no matter how minor it may seem, to contact the Valemount RCMP at 250-566-4466 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477. To contact a reporter for this story, email Bailey Zimmer mailto:bzimmer@infonews.ca  or call 250-808-0143 or email the editor mailto:news@infonews.ca . You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom mailto:tips@infonews.ca  and be entered to win a monthly prize draw. We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. SUBSCRIBE to our awesome newsletter here https://infotel.ca/newsletter .