METHUEN — Pamela O’Neil, 62, was the victim of a hit-and-run incident Sunday night on Lowell Street. She was taken to Lawrence General Hospital where she was later pronounced dead.
Her daughter Kelsie O’Neil said she will always remember her mother as “a light that lit up every room.” She was stunning and had a great sense of humor, her daughter said.
O’Neil was a paratrooper and was the first woman in Essex County to receive her wings in the 82nd Airborne at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, in the Army.
She loved Garfield, watching the Patriots and writing, especially poetry.
O’Neil lived on North Lowell Street. Her daughter said she was walking to 611 Variety Store to grab a few things “before the motorcyclist heinously crashed into her.”
Methuen police responded to the area near 471 Lowell St. on Sunday at 8:37 p.m. after a passerby reported an individual lying in the roadway.
Officer Michael Cabral arrived to multiple people flagging down his cruiser, and he immediately began administering medical aid to the victim until Methuen Fire Department paramedics arrived.
The operator of the vehicle that hit O’Neil, believed to be a motorcycle, fled the scene, according to police.
On Monday, Methuen police were still seeking to identify the operator of the motorcycle.
“As part of the ongoing investigation, Methuen police obtained video surveillance from the area which showed a motorcycle, traveling at a high rate of speed, and striking the victim,” the police report states. “The motorcycle operator then slowed down and stopped before continuing down the road.”
The department is looking for a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, possibly with a dark red and gray two-tone fender missing.
“I would have had mercy on his soul and been more forgiving if he stayed to help but he lost that privilege when he ran away like a coward,” the victim’s daughter said.
O’Neil left behind her mother Bunny, her husband Daniel and their daughters Kelsie and Erin. She is predeceased by her older brother, Bill.
The incident remains under investigation by the Methuen Criminal Investigations Bureau with Detective Willian Kannan as the lead investigator. The Massachusetts State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section (CARS) is also assisting.
Anyone with information on this incident or information on the vehicle involved is asked to call the Methuen Police Department at 978-983-8698.
“I really just want the info out everywhere so we can find her killer,” O’Neil said. “I hope he receives the highest form of punishment for this deadly act.”