2 men, 2 mysteries: Who killed them?

ROCK HILL, SC — A cross stands along a rural stretch of Highway 265 near the border of Lancaster and Chesterfield counties. It marks the spot where 36-year-old Chad Hill was found dead in the road on the morning of September 16.

"In my book, it's murder. I don't care what they say," his mother Faye Roof told Channel 9.

Roof and Hill's sister Melanie Eargle have endured five months of pain.

"He was a good guy. He did not deserve to go out like that," said Eargle.

The South Carolina Highway Patrol is still looking for the vehicle the hit Hill and kept going. The family is frustrated that no one has owned up to the crime.

"They can't even come forward, and at least send an anonymous letter or anonymous phone call or something?" said Roof.

What is known is that Hill left a bar about a quarter of a mile away on foot when he couldn't get a ride. The family says surveillance video - which hasn't been released - shows Hill appearing to be agitated and then kicking a pickup truck before walking off. He was found dead less than an hour later.

"It's hard on the troopers to see a family suffer," said Jeff Wade with the South Carolina Highway Patrol.

Wade said investigators believe Hill was lying in the road when he was hit - likely because he had passed out. It's a straight piece of road, but Wade said a driver who hits someone lying in the road might not be aware of what happened.

"I don't think everybody turns around every time they hit a bump and turns around to go back and see what it is," he explained.

But Hill's family doesn't buy that because of the way Hill left the bar, angry. They say they believe a confrontation may have led to his death.

"We need some answers," said Eargle.

But Hill's family says it thought those answers would come months ago - from someone with him that night who saw him leave walking down the road or someone with a guilty conscience.

CRUZ MENDEZ CASE

Only 20 minutes away near Pageland, a wreath hangs on a street sign where 45-year-old Cruz Mendez died two months before Hill.

"Sometimes you wish you could bring people back, but you can't," his friend Anna Panther told Channel 9.

Panther was with Mendez at a wedding just hours before his death July 16 along Tiny Grove Church Road just off Highway 207.

In both cases, no one reported seeing or hearing anything. Not a shred of evidence was found.

"I've seen guys get on their hands and knees and crawl, looking for that very minute piece of evidence, and sometimes it's just not there," said Wade.

Troopers said there is no evidence of foul play in either case, but families and friends are convinced that even if their deaths were accidents, driving away without stopping wasn't.

"This person that did this, they know what they did, Panther offered. "There's children that's without a father and a mother that's without a son. It's not fair,"

The Highway Patrol has not closed either case, but they'll never know who hit Chad Hill and Cruz Mendez, and kept going unless someone speaks up.

"None of us is gonna be at peace until we know," said Panther.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the South Carolina Highway Patrol at (803) 896-9621

Cox Media Group