“It’s a very sad story,” Jeremy Llivicura summed up about the tragedy of Galo Rafael Guamán, a 61-year-old Ecuadorian immigrant who was killed in Connecticut by a hit-and-run driver.
New Milford police found the car involved in the deadly hit-and-run accident and have a person of interest on the case, but no arrests have been announced.
The news came as Guaman’s relatives and friends prepare to bid him farewell tonight, with a memorial service at 8 pm at the Ecuadorian Civic Center in Danbury.
“He was always very kind, cheerful, always joking. He, you know, gave me advice about life,” Llivicura recalled to News 12. Known as “Don Rafael,” Guamán was the best friend of Llivicura’s father and lived with his family in Danbury for the past 20 years while He worked at a manufacturing company in New Milford.
“Every morning my dad would drop him off at the bus station so he could take the bus to New Milford,” Llivicura recalled. Tuesday, November 8, was no different, except that Guamán did not take the bus home. Police said around 5:15 p.m. he was walking down Danbury Road in front of Route 7 Travel Plaza when a car crashed into it and it never stopped.
Llivicura was on her break from work at the time and saw a post about the accident while checking her phone. He then received a call from a concerned daughter of Guamán. “She said, ‘You know, I’ve been trying to get in touch with my dad for the last few hours. He has not answered that’s not normal…can you see what’s going on?’”
Llivicura called her father at the house, who told her that Guamán was not there and then called the police. They would later confirm that he had been the fatal victim of a hit-and-run. Llivicura said that The hardest part was telling his two young daughters, who look up to Guamán like a grandfather.
“Last night, the two girls went down to look for him, and then the little girl was like, ‘He’s taking forever to come home,’ and that’s when I broke down and broke the news to them. They were also shattered,” she said.
Guaman immigrated to the US more than 20 years ago to help his family. Back home, he left behind a wife and three grown children, and he worked hard to help put them through college. He now he is doing a fundraising effort on GoFundMe Why send the body to Ecuador?
No arrests have been made. Anyone with information should call. Detective Nicholas Smith at (860)-355-3133 or nsmith@newmilfordpolice.org.