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Maple Grove Police Hope To Solve Hit-And-Run Cold Case

By James Schugel, WCCO-TV

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Detectives in a Twin Cities suburb say that solving the case of who hit and killed a Minnesota hockey mom eight years ago all depends on the public's help.

Back on Feb. 20, 2003, Becky Nelson had just parked her car at the Maple Grove Community Center. Her son was going to hockey practice that night.

Nelson was walking across a side street, heading towards the front door, when a car hit her and drove off.

Detectives never found anyone who saw that fatal hit and run happen. There are no outside cameras at the community center, so detectives have no pictures or video of the incident.

They're offering a $1,000 reward for information that will help find who killed Nelson. They just put up big posters at the community center to remind people about the fatal incident.

"We're hoping that somebody seeing the signs, seeing the posters -- it's going to stir somebody's memory where they can provide a tip for us so we can hopefully come to some sort of conclusion for the Nelson family so we can so we can figure out what happened to Rebecca that night," said Detective Tanya Petz with the Maple Grove Police Department.

Throughout the years, detectives have passed out fliers in the community. They've also visited local car body shops, believing that the person who hit and killed Nelson might have front-end damage and have taken in their car to get it fixed.

Just this week, detectives sent out a new crime alert hoping to spark some interest in this case.

Nelson's husband, Jim, told WCCO how badly he wanted answers when we talked with him three years ago.

"We're all real curious to know what happened, just what caused this," he said during that interview. "The family, the kids and I would like answers. We would like to know. If we have answers to this, Feb. 20 becomes a little bit easier."

Detective Petz wants you to call her directly if you can help her solve this case. Her number is 763-494-6211. You don't have to give her your name when you call. You can also email her directly by clicking here.

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