Family and friends search for answers following deadly hit-and-run

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Albuquerque police say a woman was killed in a hit-and-run crash Friday night as she was riding her bike home. Authorities are still trying to figure out what happened after she was hit.

Police and friends say the crash that killed Rosanna “Zan” Breuninger happened near the intersection of 12th Street and Los Arboles in the North Valley. Since that night, they have been canvassing the neighborhood, hanging up posters and asking neighbors if they saw anything. 

“There are a lot of possibilities and unknowns, so we are just trying to understand that,” Breuninger’s friend Morningstar Angeline said. 

According to a police report, Breuninger was found dead in her apartment Saturday morning.

Police say her body was covered in road rash and her broken helmet was nearby.

Investigators say it appears she was hit by a car. But her bike and phone were nowhere to be found. 

“Rosanna was someone who cycled everywhere, it’s how we knew her, and she worked in a bike shop – she knows the ins and outs of being safe on the road, and so I think it was just utter disbelief that this would happen to her,” Angeline said.

More than a mile from her apartment, neighbors who live near 12^th and Los Arboles say they remember seeing a battered bike, crumpled on the sidewalk. At the time they didn’t think anything of it when someone came by and took it away. 

“We are unsure if that is someone who hit her or someone who just saw scrap metal on the side of the road and decided to pick it up,” Angeline said. 

Police family and friends are still looking for Breuninger’s vintage white and red Trek bike, hoping it could have more clues of what happened Friday night. 

On Wednesday afternoon, police released new information. According to Crime Stoppers, a white or silver sedan drove Breuninger back to her apartment where she would later be found dead. Police are now looking for that car. 

“I hope that whoever did this does come forward because it’s another parent that has to bury a child and the community lost a sister. She made everyone feel like they were her best friend, and it’s awful that someone can feel they can get away with this. And I hope, hope, hope they come forward,” Breuninger’s friend Cactus Eddie said. 

In the meantime, Angeline and Eddie are helping Breuninger’s family pack up what was left behind after their friend’s passing, hoping the coming days will bring more answers. 

“There is no good outcome here. We lost someone who meant the world to so many, and I think we just want whoever did this to be held accountable in whatever way that means, so the family can know who did it, and we can understand her last hours living,” Angeline said. 

Breuninger’s family is accepting donations to cover funeral expenses through Cash App user @WendolynMurphy.

If you know anything about this hit-and-run please call Crime Stoppers at (505)-843-STOP (7867) or online at p3tips.com/531.