Mother of 5 found dead was a hit and run victim, sheriff says

By Andrea Isom
Fox 2 News

WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WJBK) -- Lately we have all been asking why some people do the things they do and how would any person want to harm or kill another.  Sadly, yet another family is asking why.

Monday evening at Woodside Bible Church in Romeo was a time for loved ones to remember 37-year-old Sandra Loepp of Washington Township.

"She would make us rise to the occasion at times, and to have her be killed this way, it's a tragedy," said her father Rodger Crowe.

"What a wonderful mother she was.  She had five children," said her mother Sandra Crowe.

Early Sunday morning around 1:00 a.m., Loepp walked out of Santino's bar on Van Dyke near 27 Mile.  She decided to call it a night after a nice evening out with some close friends, but they thought Loepp had a ride.

"I was with her all day and I was one of the last people she talked to until she left.  We would've never let her walk, never," said friend Amanda Paduch.

But walk Loepp did walk down a dark road never anticipating that she would never make it home again.

Macomb County Sheriff Anthony Wickersham says a motorist traveling that same road struck Loepp, dragging her more than 600 feet.

"You've got to find who did this to her.  It's not right.  She didn't deserve this," said her mother.

We are told that person got out of the car and pulled Loepp out from under the vehicle and then just drove away.  Later that mooring, her lifeless body was found in the parking lot in front of the office of a mobile home park.

"I don't think the person that hit her had any evil intentions in them.  I think it was an accident and I think they got scared and ran away, but there's a time to step up.  We're not looking to hurt anybody, sue anybody or be vengeful, but you can free yourself by admitting what you did, and I know they're suffering in their own way," said her father.

At a prayer service for Loepp, her husband was torn to pieces.  Many of her family and friends were practically speechless with grief.

"She was my precious little girl.  I used to call her my little princess.  She looked like a princess," said her mother.  "She's looking down on us now smiling because everyone's here for her."

"I think it'd be a lot better for them if they'd come up and present themselves before somebody comes to them because the police will eventually find them," her father said.

Evidence was collected at the crime scene and is being analyzed.