Family, sheriff renew push for answers a year after man’s hit-and-run death

On a Friday afternoon earlier this summer, Aaron Matej’s family gathered around a dining room table in the house where his father lives.

Nearly a year before, a sheriff’s deputy had shown up at the home to deliver news of Aaron’s death.

But this day, Aaron’s father, mother and two younger sisters laughed as they told stories of his life, illustrated by a stack of snapshots of the 36-year-old.

Most showed him relaxing or interacting with family. In each, he flashed a wide, child-like grin.

“He loved race cars,” Kendra Brueggemann said, pulling out a photograph of her brother giving a thumbs-up. He was sitting behind the wheel of a silver hot rod with a “74” on its side.

The go-to repairman for his family and friends, Aaron preferred car parts to cash for his work.

“I paid him by taking him to the parts store and buying paint. He would pick out $50, $60 worth,” she said, chuckling at the memory.

“He was the person who could do anything.”

Even though it has been more than a year since Aaron Matej was killed in a hit-and-run crash while he was walking near 183rd Street West and 13th near Goddard on June 14, 2015, his family still doesn’t know who is responsible for his death.

To date, no one has been arrested in the case. And the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office, which is investigating the crash, has exhausted all of its leads.

So Aaron’s family again is turning to the public for help and information. They say knowing who was driving the car that hit Aaron would bring them peace and closure.

“We don’t think anybody went to hit our brother and uncle and son and meant to kill him,” Brueggemann said.

“I mean, accidents happen,” she said. “We just want answers.”

‘He probably just got there’

Aaron’s family says the night he was hit and killed, he had gone out to a bar with some friends and was headed home.

Recent rains and bridge construction had made the road muddy along 183rd Street West, they said. He got stuck in a ditch not far from 13th Street.

He was driving an old Ford Ranger he had just bought for $400. His family called it “Little Blue.”

Aaron hated Fords, but when he spotted the truck in Cheney, he figured it would be a perfect vehicle to show his nephews how to drive a stick shift.

He loved teaching new things to the children in his life, like how to fix cars and ride go-karts.

“He knew it had issues. It was an old beater,” Brueggemann said.

Aaron’s family said people living in the area where the truck got stuck could hear its engine revving that night.

They also heard the hood slam and Aaron phoning a friend for help after it had overheated.

“I think the plan was to maybe add some water to it or maybe (the friend) was going to pull it with his truck,” Brueggemann said.

“Or, they were going to push it together.”

Aaron’s family thinks he walked to the nearest intersection so he would be easier to find in the dark.

When his friends showed up at about 2:15 a.m., they found Aaron lying in the middle of the road about mile from his truck.

“His friends don’t and we don’t think that he was just standing around. He probably just got there,” said Aaron’s sister, Erica Matej Smith. The injuries suggest he was run over by a truck or an SUV, she said.

Aaron’s friends called 911 and waited for the paramedics. He died at Via Christi St. Joseph Hospital a short time later.

About 6 a.m. that Sunday, a weary sheriff’s deputy showed up at Robert Matej’s door to deliver the news of his son’s death.

Aaron was a son, a divorced father of two, and an uncle to eight nephews and one niece. He was a “kid at heart” with a “bigger-than-life attitude” known for his willingness to help out at a moment’s notice, the family said.

Everyone was shocked.

“Nobody could believe it when they first heard it. I mean, not Aaron,” Robert Matej said softly.

“He was in the prime of his life. I mean, my gosh. Tall, dark, handsome, in shape. Loved. Appreciated. All that,” he said.

“It’s a loss to the family, no doubt.”

Leads exhausted

More than a year later, sheriff’s investigators still don’t know who hit and killed Aaron on June 14.

In March, the case was highlighted by Wichita-Sedgwick County Crime Stoppers. Earlier this summer, around the one-year anniversary of his death, Aaron’s family posted signs around Goddard asking the public to call authorities if they know anything about the crash.

So far, the efforts have been fruitless.

The sheriff’s office has said, based on evidence collected at the collision site, it’s possible the person who hit Aaron was unaware he had been run over.

But because the investigation is ongoing, the agency couldn’t say much more.

“Our detectives have completed multiple interviews regarding the Matej fatality and have exhausted all of our scientific methods in the search for the individual responsible for Aaron Matej’s death,” Sedgwick County sheriff’s Lt. Lin Dehning said.

“We would welcome any information from the public that would help us solve this case.”

Meanwhile, the family says it’s hard not having someone held accountable.

“Chances are they didn’t see him, but they knew they hit something. Surely they’ve told people, or mentioned it,” Erica Matej Smith said.

“We don’t want the case to be forgotten.”

‘He’s worth remembering’

Since Aaron’s death, his family has looked for ways to keep his memory alive.

His mother, Angie Matej, wears a .45-caliber shell casing filled with some of his ashes on a piece of leather around her neck because Aaron loved hunting. His nephews wear his clothes, shoes and ring.

After Aaron’s memorial service last summer, they held a party in his honor at Lake Afton that included a cookout, go-kart riding and playing in the mud. “Aaron would have loved it,” Brueggemann said.

The family also often visits the site where Aaron was hit. A white cross adorned with Aaron’s name and solar lights mark the spot.

Usually it’s surrounded by beer cans and miniature toy cars left by friends, his father and sisters said.

“He’s worth remembering. He was a special guy,” Robert Matej said of his son.

“The world’s not as good without him.”

This story was originally published August 15, 2016 at 3:24 PM with the headline "Family, sheriff renew push for answers a year after man’s hit-and-run death."