Abbotsford police, crash victim’s family renew plea for help one year after fatal incident

It’s been one year since a hit-and-run crash in Abbotsford left a 38-year-old man dead, and his family and police are renewing their calls for help to find whoever was responsible.

Marc Ellis was hit by a red Dodge Ram pickup truck on Dec. 11, 2022 just after midnight. At the time, he had pulled over to help a dog that was wandering along Lefeuvre Road.

Police say the two people who were reportedly in the pickup had left a nearby party before the collision happened. The pair was seen “on security cameras fleeing the accident on foot, abandoning the vehicle registered to an Abbotsford business.”

Ellis’ vehicle was also found with heavy damage.

In the wake of the incident, police had shared surveillance footage of the area, with the hopes of finding the two people who were seen running from the Dodge Ram. In January, police had said they identified the truck’s owner.

“The suspect vehicle was not reported stolen and is registered to an Abbotsford business. Investigators have attempted to speak to the owner of this business, but at this time, they are not cooperating with the police investigation,” Abbotsford Police said in January.

In a video posted Monday, Dec. 11, 2023, Ellis’ sister, brother-in-law, and girlfriend renewed their plea for anyone with information to come forward.

“You can’t imagine just losing someone that is just a phone call away and suddenly they’re not there anymore. You want to talk to them on the phone and you can’t, you want to go out for coffee with them, you want to hang out with them, you want to just share something with them or even just Christmas,” said one of his family members in the video.

“He was trying to help a dog, help save a dog, from the middle of the road and unfortunately due to that he did lose his life. He was trying to do something good, being the caring animal lover that he is and caring person that he is, and it did unfortunately led to him losing his life,” the family member continued.

“It’s very sad.”

At the time of his death, a GoFundMe campaign was set up to help support Ellis’ family. It raised $21,986 in honour of the man it described as “generous without fault, always striving to do his best.”

“He was always willing to help, and was there for anyone. A life taken far too soon. The dog and reptile community have suffered a huge loss with his passing,” the page reads.

“As a family, we just hope that the people out there who have information and maybe who have remembered some additional information over the past year would like to bring it forward. I know we’d appreciate it very much,” his family added in the video.

Police and Ellis’ family are asking any witnesses who have additional information to contact the APD at 604-859-5225.

-With files from Hana Mae Nassar