Father of four a victim of hit and run

PIERSON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) - Scott Allan Vanzyl, 30, was found dead in the middle of a Montcalm County road. Police think he is the victim of a hit-and-run accident.

The Montcalm County Sheriff's Department received numerous calls around 1 a.m. Thursday about a man laying on Federal Road, south of Cannonsville Road, near Pierson.

"There were several 911 calls, and nobody stopped to see anything," said Treasa Veltcamp, a friend of Vanzyl's. "And that's what really got me, why didn't anybody stop to help him?"

She knows Vanzyl well. At one point, they dated, but broke up and stayed close friends and neighbors.

"I've known Scott for eight years, he's been like my big brother," Veltcamp said.

Deputies arrived and confirmed he was died. Vanzyl, of Pierson, later was identified. He has four children.

A vehicle traveling south of Federal Road hit him as he was walking in the southbound lane, investigators say. The driver then fled the scene without calling police.

Vanzyl and another friend were drinking, got into a skirmish, and Vanzyl took off, neighbors said.

"I guess what happened here, he was afraid and went to another friend's house," neighbor Walter Roundtree said.

Veltcamp said Vanzyl's friend made a pass at her, and now, she questions what would have happened if he would have stayed home.

"He came up to say something and I was just so scared, I ran up and locked the door," she said. "I should have said something. Sorry.

"We just came back from telling his 10-year-old daughter he passed away, and that's (hard). Anything I can do to help, I'm willing to help. I mean, he was a loyal man and he loved his children very, very much."

If you know anything about the incident, you are asked to call a police tip line at (989) 831-7593.