TARPON SPRINGS, Fla. — Mia Schoen’s mother said she is doing her best to go on with life after losing her 17-year-old daughter in a hit-and-run crash.
“There are moments I don’t really want to push forward. There are moments I just want to stay in bed and cry. You can’t deal with this. It’s just impossible," said Karine Burkhardt.
I talked to Karine Burkhardt from her home in Pompano Beach on Florida’s east coast.
She said Tarpon Springs Police don’t have any strong leads about who was involved in the crash that killed her daughter on March 28.
RELATED: 17-year-old killed in Tarpon Springs hit-and-run
Schoen was visiting the area with friends and was crossing U.S. 19 early in the morning near Klosterman Road on her way to one of the gas station convenience stores.
Police said the truck that hit her and kept going is a silver 2017 Toyota Tundra, which they know because of all the debris left behind.
They say they are following up on leads, but nothing has led them to the driver.
"The moment he or she decided not to stop, he or she became a murderer in my mind because it was no longer an accident," said Burkhardt.
Back in Pompano Beach, Schoen’s friends have turned her car into a memorial, a place to grieve.
Her mother said her daughter had big plans to open a wildlife refuge center in Costa Rica.
“She really had her whole life ahead of her. She really had the biggest heart ever and somebody prevented her from accomplishing those miracles in her life," Burkhardt said.
FHP reports showed more than 24,000 hit-and-run crashes in Florida in 2023 alone, and 63 of those were fatal.
There were more than 105,000 hit-and-run crashes in 2022, with 271 fatalities.
