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N.J.hit-and-run victim's kin seek help finding driver

Investigators and relatives of an Audubon, Camden County, man who was killed in a hit-and-run accident one month ago handed out fliers Tuesday in hope of finding the driver, who has eluded authorities since Christopher Dean was found lying on the side of a road.

Christopher Dean was found near Graisbury and East Atlantic Avenues in Audubon on April 9.
Christopher Dean was found near Graisbury and East Atlantic Avenues in Audubon on April 9.Read more

Investigators and relatives of an Audubon, Camden County, man who was killed in a hit-and-run accident one month ago handed out fliers Tuesday in hope of finding the driver, who has eluded authorities since Christopher Dean was found lying on the side of a road.

"We really want the opportunity to forgive the person," said his sister, Erika Reilley, 40, of Tabernacle. "And we want the person to have the opportunity to say, 'I'm sorry.' "

Dean, 36, was discovered around 10:40 p.m. April 9 at Graisbury and East Atlantic Avenues. A medical examiner determined from Dean's injuries that he had been struck by a vehicle.

The fliers distributed to residents of the area where Dean was hit included a picture of Dean and numbers to call for detectives at the Camden County Prosecutor's Office and the Audubon Police Department.

The details leading up to his death are sketchy. Reilley said she was unsure where her brother was headed when he was struck. He was found about two blocks from the apartment to which he had moved in January, she said.

Dean was "really proud of his little place," Reilley said, and had moved there after living with his parents during a long battle with drug addiction. Dean, who has no children, shared the one-bedroom apartment with his fiancée, Reilley said.

"He finally got to a point where he was standing on his own two feet," she said. "It was awesome. And it was just taken from him too soon."

Dean was the youngest of five children and grew up in Cherry Hill. He attended Cherry Hill High School East and, as an adult, worked at the jewelry business his family runs in Philadelphia.

Dean also helped take care of his older brother, David, after he was paralyzed when he tripped while running in a Cherry Hill park in 2009. Christopher Dean would lift his brother from a bed to a wheelchair and crack jokes to make him smile, Reilley said.

David Dean died in 2010.

Christopher Dean's death - and the lack of answers surrounding it - has "crushed the family," Reilley said.

"We're leaning on the professionals, and we're doing our best each day to be very patient," she said. "We're looking forward to our 10 million questions getting answered when they have the answers."

Anyone with information on Dean's death is asked to call Detective Doug Rowand of the Camden County Prosecutor's Office at 856-225-8514 or, between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. weekdays, Audubon Police Detective Tim Stillman at 856-547-1171.