Tabor City Tribune

BICYCLIST

KILLED

AT

FAIR

BLUFF

Elbert Hayes, 28, was struck and killed by a hit-and-run motorist about 9 o'clock Friday night as he rode his bicycle home from a Fair Bluff movie and Daniel Hewett Nance of Marietta, Robeson county, is under investigation as a suspect to the highway tragedy.

The accident occurred near the eastern corporate limits as Hayes rode along in the direction of Cerro Gordo.

According to the investigation of State Highway Patrolmen K. K. Daniel, W. S. Allen and F. D. McLean, the victim was riding his bicycle on the hard surface about two feet from the outer edge.

Patrolman McLean, who headed the investigation, said the body of Hayes was found about 95 feet from the point of impact and that the bicycle was about half-way between.

The automobile, which struck Hayes, continued on its way and no clue as to the identity of the hit-and-run motorist was left behind.

Nance fell under suspicion because of some slight damage discovered to the fender of his car and some flesh fragments. It was explained, however, that the flesh fragments had not been positively identified as those of a human and could have come from running over a frog.

The Marietta man is under $2,000 bond pending a report on the substance found on his car. Officers said he denied his car had struck anyone.

Funeral services for the deceased were conducted from Porter Swamp Baptist Church, near Cerro Gordo, on Sunday afternoon at 3 o'clock. The Rev. Woodrow Williamson of Boardman was in charge. Interment followed in the church cemetery.

Hayes is survived by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Overton Hayes of Fair Bluff; four brothers, Overton, Jr., and Herman, both of Fair Bluff, and Lawrence and Horace of Bingham, S. C.; and four sisters, Ina Mildred, Mamie Ruth, Myrtle Rose and Mary Grace Hayes, all of the home.