Bride-to-be dies in fiance’s arms after hit-and-run crash, Ohio family says. ‘I’m numb’

A 30-year-old woman days from getting married was killed in a hit-and-run crash as she walked home with her fiance, Ohio family members say.

The crash reportedly happened in the early morning hours of Sunday, Oct. 1, in Cleveland. Elyse Bodee was alongside her fiancee as they walked home from the restaurant where she worked, her mother said in a GoFundMe.

Miriam Bodee, Elyse’s mother, said in the GoFundMe that her daughter died instantly when the driver of a black SUV ran her over. The driver did not stop.

“She died in my son’s arms,” Kimberly Dockery Spohn, Elyse Bodee’s would-be mother-in-law, said in a Facebook post.

She called Bodee a “fun, funny, big hearted (and) full of love” woman.

Elyse Bodee was going to get married in Key West, Florida, next week, her father, Lew Bodee, told WJW. The GoFundMe said she was “finally ready to start her life,” which was “only beginning.”

“I’m numb, my wife is devastated,” Lew Bodee told WJW. “It’s something we still think we’re living in a dream; this isn’t real.”

He also pleaded with the driver of the SUV to come forward.

“What made you feel that you needed to flee? Were you drinking or you were afraid of the consequences? And was that more important than someone lying in the street?” he said in an interview with Cleveland.com. “Do the right thing, turn yourself in. And if anyone knows about it, please come forward.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact Cleveland police at 216-621-1234.

This story was originally published October 2, 2023 at 12:07 PM with the headline "Bride-to-be dies in fiance’s arms after hit-and-run crash, Ohio family says. ‘I’m numb’."