Detectives search for hit-and-run driver who killed 16-year-old cyclist in North Lauderdale

NORTH LAUDERDALE, Florida. – It was only a few days ago that 16-year-old Mark Garay was hit by a driver in North Lauderdale who did not stop to help him.

Officials believe the driver of a white sedan with tinted windows drove into the bike lane, killing the high school student who was riding his bike north on North State Road Seven.

Mark was on his way home from work.

“We are devastated,” Florencia Aguilar wrote in Spanish on GoFundMe, adding that Mark was her cousin.

According to the Broward Sheriff’s Office, the hit-and-run crash occurred just after 1 a.m. on June 6 north of Commercial Boulevard, and homicide detectives are searching for the driver, who continued north, turned around and fled south.

Alexis Rivera, a cousin of his, told Telemundo in Spanish that his family had been searching for Mark, a star student, when he did not return home from work until his mother found him on the ground about an hour after the crash.

“He saved as much money as he could and bought a bike,” Rivera said in Spanish, describing Mark as “very motivated,” “intelligent” and “educated.”

The Fort Lauderdale Fire Department pronounced him dead.

Detective Sean Strzalkowski asked anyone with information about the case to call 954-321-4845 or Broward County Crime Stoppers at 954-493-8477. Anonymous tips leading to an arrest may be rewarded with up to $5,000.