Woman named person of interest in fatal hit-and-run crash

FHP names Fara Zaldivar person of interest in crash that killed Carlos Pildain, injured Dixiana Pildain

KENDALL, Fla. – The Florida Highway Patrol on Thursday named a person of interest in a fatal hit-and-run crash that happened on July 23.

After the crash at Bird Road and Southwest 97th Avenue, troopers found the 2004 Cadillac Escalade owned by Fara Zaldivar, 58, near Blue Lakes Elementary.

The Escalade rear ended another car at the intersection. Carlos Pildain was killed and his wife Dixiana (pictured below) suffered serious injuries.

"She (Zaldivar) is a person of interest at this time," said Trooper Joe Sanchez, a spokesman for FHP. "Basically, our traffic homicide investigator has exhausted all the means to find her and we are asking anyone who may have any info pertaining to this fatal accident to reach out to us at FHP and assist us."

Surveillance cameras from the nearby gas station caught the SUV on video. You can see people gassing up and driving by, then stop and start running toward the wreckage. The video also shows a flash of light when the victim's car crashed into the light pole, killing Carlos on the scene.

After finding out the suspect's vehicle had been located, the victim's family is now crying out for help. "They didn't care at all for him. Nobody deserves that," said Ramses Herrera, son of the victim. "I know we all make mistakes and sometimes we put ourselves in situations we wish we hadn't. There's no excuse for what they did. They just left him there to die."

Zaldivar has no history in Miami-Dade or Broward counties. While FHP traffic homicide investigators are calling her a person of interest, they have yet to determine whether or not Zaldivar was the one behind the while during the fatal hit-and-run.

"They have not been able to locate her," said Trooper Joe Sanchez, a spokesman for FHP. "They have reached out to family members, and basically from my understanding, she's doing everything she can not to sit down with our traffic homicide investigator. It's an ongoing investigation. Our main priority right now is to reach out to her ask her some questions, reference the accident and the vehicle. We want to put closure to this."

Anyone with information on the crash is asked to call Florida Highway Patrol at 305-718-6020.