MARYSVILLE, Wash. — The Tulalip Tribal Community is devastated after Gina Blatchford, a 35-year-old mother of four children, was hit and killed earlier this month while walking along Interstate 5 North near the Marysville exit south of 4th Street.
Blatchford's loved ones are now begging for any possible witnesses to come forward to help in the troopers' investigation.
Danika Hatch, who describes herself as Blatchford's close sibling, said Blatchford was always "full of light."
"When she was younger, she would always run around and sing 'This Little Light of Mine', and she would just sing it at the top of her lungs, and even got me out there like clapping singing it with her," said Hatch.
Now she is hoping someone could shed light on who killed her sister, as she wonders, "why somebody wouldn’t stop."
She continued, "It just… doesn’t make any sense.”
A trooper with the Washington State Patrol said the victim was walking along the side of I-5 north when she was hit.
Her family said she was walking from North Everett to her home in Tulalip. Troopers are hoping anyone with information on her whereabouts earlier that evening will contact them.
Authorities said they believe the hit-and-run happened overnight, likely in the early morning of Oct. 4, sometime before 6 a.m.
As for why she was walking on a dark, narrow freeway shoulder? "She loved to walk," her former foster mom Denise Hatch Anderson said.
Hatch Anderson said it was not unusual for Blatchford to walk miles between neighborhoods.
Meanwhile, her loved ones are begging for answers and closure, as Blatchford was a mother to a 17-year-old, a 15-year-old, an 11-year-old and a 5-year-old.
One possible lead investigators are exploring: a WSP trooper said they did find car parts from a Volvo semi-truck at the scene, but they aren't yet certain that this was the suspect vehicle, so the search continues.
"Anyone with the above information is requested to call Detective Daniel Comnick at (360) 529-7367," said Trooper Kelsey Harding, a spokesperson for WSP District 7. "Your assistance is appreciated as we work to locate the suspect and suspect vehicle."
To bring justice for Blatchford and her kids, her loved ones hope whoever did it turns themselves in at the phone number above. They also said they hoped somebody who saw something would come forward.
"She just had so much love... and she'd spread it to everyone," said Hatch.
Her uncle, Charles Blatchford, said the family created a GoFundMe to go towards a reward to help bring justice for her death.