May 2, 2026. Just before 3 a.m. A woman walked along Neilson Road, east of Sheep Creek Road, in Phelan, California. The desert town is quiet at that hour. Few cars. Few witnesses. But one vehicle was traveling westbound on that road. The driver hit the woman. Then the driver kept going.
Linda Teyechea was 38 years old. She lived in San Bernardino. She was walking in the roadway when the vehicle struck her. The impact threw her onto the dirt shoulder. She did not get up.
Emergency crews from the CHP Victorville Area and the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department arrived shortly after the collision. They found Teyechea unresponsive on the shoulder. The coroner recorded her time of death as 2:58 a.m. She died at the scene. Not in an ambulance. Not in a hospital. On the side of a dark road.
The driver fled. No description of the vehicle is available. No license plate number. No make or model. No direction of travel beyond “westbound.” The driver vanished into the night.
Investigators do not yet know why Teyechea was walking in the roadway. Alcohol and drugs are not suspected as factors on her part, based on preliminary reports. But that could change as toxicology results come back. The California Highway Patrol is leading the investigation. Their work is slow. Desert roads do not have many surveillance cameras. Witnesses are scarce at 3 a.m.
The family of Linda Teyechea has been notified. They are now left with the kind of grief that includes anger. Someone hit their loved one and did not stop. Did not call 911. Did not check if she was alive. Did not leave a note. Just drove away.
The CHP Victorville Area is asking for the public’s help. Anyone who was on Neilson Road around 3 a.m. on May 2, or anyone who saw a vehicle with fresh front end damage in the hours after the crash, is urged to call Officer W. Benson at 760 241 1186. Even small details could help. A car that seemed to be speeding. A driver acting strangely. A piece of debris found near the road.
Linda Teyechea was 38. She had a life. She had people who loved her. She was walking on a road in Phelan before dawn. Now she is dead. And the person who killed her is still out there.