MAPLE GROVE, Minn. — Editor's note: The video above first aired on Feb. 20, 2020, the 17th anniversary of Rebecca Nelson's death.
Memories - even those etched into our consciousness - can become fuzzy with time. Each turn of the calendar seems to push faces, places and events further into the background.
But for those who loved Rebecca Nelson, the night of Feb. 20, 2003, will never be forgotten. On that evening the hockey mom dropped her son off at Maple Grove Community Ice Arena, parked the car and headed for the entrance to watch him play.
She never made it.
Nelson's body was discovered on the ground at the busy intersection outside the community center. Investigators determined she had been struck by a motorist who then fled the scene. An ambulance rushed Nelson to the hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries.
Rebecca Nelson was just 41 years old. Investigators processed evidence, issued pleas for public help and yet the case did not come together. Her family and friends came up with more than $12,000 to offer as a reward for tips that would lead to the arrest and conviction of a suspect. Some came in, but none with enough substance to make a case.
"It's been hard to grieve and to move on, not having any answers," Rebecca's daughter Sheri told KARE 11 in 2020. Sheri was just 13 years old when her mom was killed, and now has children of her own. "My kids have questions, they are hurt and sad that they can't meet their grandma so... just answers so we can close this and move on."
Tuesday marks 21 years since that terrible night, one that left her husband Jim without his beloved wife and their children... to grow up without a mom. Detective Dominic Wareham was then a young officer at the end of his shift when he got the radio call reporting a hit-and-run at the community center. Wareham and his partner were first on the scene and performed lifesaving measures, saw Rebecca loaded into the ambulance... and met her husband and children at the hospital where she died.
"I remember it very well," he recalls, calling the sequence of events one of the more unique experiences he's experienced in his law enforcement career.
Detective Wareham inherited the cold case in 2016 and has developed a close relationship with the Nelson family over the years, regularly speaking with Rebecca's husband Jim and communicating with Sheri through her husband, who is in the law enforcement field. Wareham admits to being frustrated by the lack of answers at times and is amazed at the positivity and patience they've shown while waiting for some form of closure.
"A wonderful bunch of people," he reflects, sharing that he spoke on the phone with Jim and said a prayer just this morning. "It would be a virtuous and honorable thing to bring closure to that family."
Although anniversaries can reopen wounds, the detective says renewed interest on this day usually generates at least a handful of tips. Maybe this will be the year someone will realize misplaced loyalty isn't worth hiding a secret - or the person who was behind the wheel of the vehicle that struck Rebecca Nelson that night decides they can't live with the guilt anymore.
Time hasn't dulled the memories of that night for a then-25-year-old patrolman who is now on the home stretch of his law enforcement career. Wareham remains cautiously optimistic that the person responsible for Rebecca Nelson's death will be identified before he hangs up his badge.
"That would be one of the most satisfying things you can do in this line of work," Wareham said. "To be able to assist and bring answers would be a satisfying thing."
If you have any information about the hit-and-run that took place on Feb. 20, 2003, or know who is responsible, contact Maple Grove Detective Dominic Wareham at 763-494-6196, or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS. You may be eligible for a $12,500 reward.
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