Search continues for blue pickup in hit-and-run that killed Anchorage woman

A 23-year-old Anchorage woman has been identified as the victim of a hit-and-run in Midtown Anchorage early Saturday, but investigators continue to search for the pickup and driver involved in the collision.

Cassandra M. Tinker, 23, was killed at 34th Avenue and C Street, Anchorage police said in a statement Wednesday.

At around 3 a.m. Saturday, Tinker was crossing one-way, three-lane C Street near Buffalo Wild Wings and a strip mall. She was crossing C Street from east to west, police said. There's no crosswalk at that intersection. The speed limit on C Street is 45 mph.

The woman was walking alone, but others nearby witnessed the hit-and-run and called police, the police department has said.

Police responded to the intersection at 3:05 a.m. Tinker was declared dead at the scene.

Police said Wednesday that Tinker's family has been notified of her death.

Tinker's sister, Minnie White, said Wednesday that Tinker was working at the Alaska Native Medical Center as a certified nurse assistant in the Pediatrics Department.

"She loved babies very much," White said in a Facebook message.

Tinker had just turned 23 in May, White said. Tinker grew up in Kasigluk and worked in Kotzebue before moving to Anchorage, White said.

Tinker loved making people laugh, White said, and was a "loving and caring soul."

Investigators are looking for the pickup and its driver.

"The vehicle is a '90s-model blue GMC or Chevy pickup truck with four doors, full-length silver-colored running boards, dark fender flares, a long bed, and a missing passenger-side headlight/blinker assembly," Anchorage police said Tuesday.

Police have released surveillance camera images of the truck.

Police asked anyone with information about the crash to call 311. To remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 907-561-STOP or at anchoragecrimestoppers.com.

Saturday's fatal collision came less than two weeks after another deadly crash involving a pedestrian in Anchorage. Just after noon June 5, an SUV struck and killed 40-year-old Paul Winter while he was rollerblading on the sidewalk along Cordova Street between Ninth and 10th avenues near downtown.

In mid-May, Michael Clark was seriously injured while standing at the intersection of West 36th Avenue and C Street, according to police. Police said last month they believe a car ran a red light and slammed into a pickup. That pickup then spun and smacked into the man as he waited to cross the street. He had life-threatening injuries, police said. That happened just two blocks from where Saturday's fatal hit-and-run occurred.