Police continue to study pickup

WILKES-BARRE �?? City police are not finished combing through a Ford F350 possibly linked to a fatal hit-and-run on Hazle Avenue last month.

The diesel pickup truck has not been returned to its owner, Daniel Loughnane, since police said Wednesday they found suspected hair and a possible bone fragment on the underside and driver�??s side door area.

Police are expected to request another warrant to search the cab of the truck today.

Police on Tuesday searched the truck at LAG Towing and Transport�??s garage on Carey Avenue, Wilkes-Barre, where it was placed on a lift to access the undercarriage. It was returned on a flatbed trailer to the basement garage at police headquarters the same day it was searched at LAG.

Police impounded the truck from Loughnane�??s residence at 71 W. Liberty St., Hanover Township, the night of Aug. 9, a day after a neighbor reported seeing law enforcement officers taking pictures of the Ford in Loughnane�??s driveway.

According to a search warrant filed Monday, police said they took the truck because Loughnane�??s whereabouts were unknown, the lateness of the hour to obtain a search warrant and keys were left in a toolbox in the truck�??s bed.

Police called the truck a �??vehicle of interest�?� in the fatal hit-and-run incident that claimed the life of Rebecca McCallick, 19, in front of her apartment at 199 Hazle Ave. on July 24.

McCallick was struck at about 2:23 a.m., police said.

Monday�??s search warrant affidavit alleges McCallick�??s boyfriend, John Schenck, told police they were arguing when she ran out of their apartment. Schenck said he yelled from a second-floor window at McCallick to get off the road when he saw a vehicle speeding up Hazle Avenue and striking McCallick, the affidavit states.

The truck was taken by police after Schenck allegedly identified the vehicle in Loughnane�??s driveway.

Schenck could not be reached for comment on Thursday.