Mission Viejo : Woman Believed Killed by Hit-and-Run Driver

A 23-year-old Laguna Hills woman apparently was struck and killed early Thursday by a hit-and-run driver, a California Highway Patrol spokesman said.

Officer Ken Daily said investigators initially believed that Tina Marie Shepard, whose body was discovered by a passer-by on Crown Valley Parkway, was a homicide victim.

However, authorities determined later Thursday that her broken right arm and massive head injuries were similar to those that might have been inflicted on a pedestrian hit by the right rear-view mirror of a truck.

Shepard had been to Mission Community Hospital about 5 a.m. for medication to treat some kind of seizure, Daily said. He said investigators believe she then began hitchhiking home and was hit on Crown Valley Parkway about 5:30 a.m. by a vehicle that did not stop.

Witnesses who may have seen the incident are asked to contact the CHP at (714) 661-6215.