A man has been identified and charged in a decades-old fatal hit-and-run in Charlotte, North Carolina, police announced Friday.
Herbert Stanback, 68, was charged with felony hit and run resulting in death in the 1989 killing of 52-year-old Ruth Buchanan, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said.
Buchanan was crossing an intersection on Dec. 29, 1989, when she was struck by a vehicle that failed to stop at a red light, according to police. The driver did not stop after striking Buchanan and fled the scene.
Buchanan was taken to Charlotte Memorial Hospital with serious injuries. She died a day later.
Witnesses provided investigators with a description of the vehicle and a license plate number, and detectives were able to determine that the vehicle had been reported stolen.
In January 1990, officers responded to a report of a suspicious vehicle. Officers found a vehicle with a stolen license plate but were able to identify it by the tag number and confirmed it was the vehicle involved in the fatal crash.
Herbert Stanback in a police photo.
North Carolina Department of Corrections
Investigators said they determined the vehicle was stolen from a car dealership in Charlotte.
But the case remained open for 32 years due to a lack of further evidence.
In 2022, detectives said they received a tip from an anonymous caller who identified a man the caller believed was involved in the hit-and-run. Investigators then determined that the person involved in the tip was not involved in the incident.
As part of the investigation, investigators analyzed physical evidence recovered from the vehicle involved in the hit-and-run, which was still impounded at police headquarters.
Extensive DNA analysis and evidence examination allowed investigators to identify Stanback as a suspect in the case.
Stanback was already incarcerated in North Carolina, serving a 22-year sentence in connection with an unrelated case.
In March 2024, detectives interviewed Stanback and he admitted to driving the vehicle that hit Buchanan. Investigators determined he was incarcerated and on a work-release program at the time of the crash.
Detectives then obtained an arrest warrant for aggravated hit-and-run resulting in death. In June 2024, he was formally charged in the case.