Officials: Death of Fairfax Teen on Route 66 Was Suicide

Virginia State Police said late Wednesday that their investigation into the death of a 17-year-old Fairfax boy who was walking Tuesday along Route 66 in Fairfax and was killed by a car has been officially classified as a suicide.

READ: Pedestrian Struck, Killed Walking Along Route 66

Corinne Geller, spokeswoman for the state police, said an inter-agency investigation at the scene of Tuesday’s accident led to the conclusion.

“Through the course of the investigation and with the assistance of Fairfax County Police, the trooper was able to conclude suicide as the cause of [Tuesday's] incident,” Geller said.

Geller would not comment on specific findings that led to the suicide conclusion.

Local Suicide Resources

• Crisislink Suicide Prevention Hotline: (703) 527-4077
• National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: (800) 273-TALK (8255) 
• Fairfax County Public Schools Office of Intervention and Prevention

Geller said the one piece of the puzzle that remains missing is the car that struck the boy.

“We have not located the vehicle the young man collided with,” Geller told Patch.

The accident happened in the early hours of Tuesday morning, on Route 66 near Route 50 in the Fair Lakes area of Fairfax County.

Authorities received a call at 4:41 a.m. reporting a young man walking alongside the right lanes of Route 66.

While officers were en route to his location, they received a report that the boy had been struck by a passing vehicle. The vehicle that struck him left the scene.

The victim was later identified only as a 17-year-old Fairfax resident.

Traffic was snarled for hours, as the two right lanes of Route 66 were blocked until 10 a.m. as officials conducted their investigation and cleared the scene.