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Man killed crossing Parkway was Pitt student
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Sam Reed couldn't wait to get back to the University of Pittsburgh campus this year after spending the summer at home in Leesport, Berks County, helping with his dad's painting business.
"He loved the campus life. He fell in love with Pitt when he saw it," said his father, Kurt Reed.
Late Saturday, state police stopped at the Reed family's home to say they thought Sam might be the pedestrian struck and killed early Saturday on the Parkway East.
They were right. Sam Reed, 19, died while trying to cross the parkway at the Edgewood-Swissvale exit.
Police had found the family's phone number on a Subscriber Identity Module, or SIM, card from Mr. Reed's mobile phone found at the scene. Family friends then volunteered to drive Mr. Reed's dental records to Pittsburgh to confirm his identity.
"All we know is that he was hit at an extremely high rate of speed," his father said tearfully. "Who knows when he was hit and how long he was lying there?"
The driver, Judah David Simon of Pittsburgh, left the scene but later surrendered to police. State police say charges are pending against Mr. Simon.
Sam Reed had just started his sophomore year at Pitt, majoring in anthropology. He was living in the Sutherland Hall dormitory and was getting on well with his roommate, his father said.
Mr. Reed said the roommate, whom he declined to identify, told him that Sam Reed wanted to go out Friday night but couldn't find anyone to go with him. He didn't have a car, so the family does not know how he ended up on foot near the Edgewood-Swissvale exit at 2:30 a.m. or where he might have been going.
"Those are his hours. He stays up until 4 every morning on his computer," the father said.
Mr. Reed enjoyed cycling and running, and was interested in art history. He ran cross-country competitively at Schuylkill Valley High School in Leesport, which is north of Reading, until he injured his Achilles heel his junior year. His father said his son had recently purchased two turntables and had aspirations to be a club DJ.
The family, including his mother, Peggy, and his 16-year-old brother, Evan, is planning to hold a memorial service at a park trail in Leesport where he liked to run.
First Published September 4, 2007 12:00 am
