Troopers hope pieces of car left at New Port Richey crash scene lead to driver

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The family of a homeless man who was killed by a hit-and-run driver in New Port Richey is desperate to find the person who killed their loved one.

John Mowry was on his bicycle when a driver crashed into him and kept going.

Mowry's older brother, David is upset and angry, saying he hopes investigators are taking the case seriously whether his brother was homeless or not.

The crash happened Saturday on US 19. Two days later, investigators are looking for information about the driver who took off.

Florida Highway Patrol says John Mowry was riding a bicycle down US 19 in New Port Richey Saturday night when someone driving a 2004 blue Saturn Ion coupe slammed into him. The driver took off leaving behind pieces of the car and leaving John for dead.

Now his loved ones want answers.

"It's a horrible thing. Our whole family is devastated. We literally had to take my mother, who is 78 years old, to the hospital to tell her this," David said.

48-hours later, he is frustrated.

He says communication with FHP has been lacking. He wonders if it's because his brother was homeless.

"They look at that as, ‘Well, that's some low life on the street.’ My brother was a bright guy. He had a problem," David said. "John was a good guy. John was a very intelligent guy. John knew how to cook. He knew how to run restaurants.”

An FHP spokesperson says troopers are taking all tips seriously. They feel confident they'll find the driver because -- unlike many hit and run cases -- they know the exact type of car involved.

FHP said the main investigator spent Monday searching neighborhoods for that blue Saturn Ion.

Meanwhile, David says his family is doing their own detective work.

"We'll run the case. And we're going to find out and then we're going to go from there," he said.

They want the driver to know a lot of people are searching.

"We want to bring this guy to justice, or girl, whoever was running that car that run this guy over, we want them. Simple as that," David said.

Anyone who saw what happened or may know who the driver is, Florida Highway Patrol wants you to give them a call as soon as possible.