Approximately three and a half decades after a woman was lethally struck by a stolen vehicle, DNA evidence aided authorities in identifying the perpetrator.
A person driving a reportedly stolen, dark-colored vehicle disregarded a traffic light and collided with Ruth Buchanan, 52. As per Sgt. Gavin Jackson from the major crash investigation unit of the police department, Buchanan's body landed on the opposite side of the intersection, and the driver, who failed to stop and render aid, continued on their way.
Buchanan passed away in a Charlotte hospital the following day due to her injuries, as per authorities. Her hit-and-run incident, which occurred in 1989, remained unsolved for over three decades. However, DNA from a suspected marijuana joint found in the car during the initial investigation aided in the identification of a suspect, according to a press release.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg authorities identified Herbert Stanback, 68, as the potential culprit with the help of DNA evidence extracted from the marijuana joint found in the vehicle.
Stanback, who confessed to being behind the wheel that struck Buchanan, was already serving a 22-year prison sentence for an unrelated crime. Police tracked him down as a result of their investigation.
On July 17, Stanback was charged with a felony hit-and-run in relation to Buchanan’s death and was sentenced to serve two years concurrently with his current sentence, as per North Carolina state court records.
Attempts to reach an attorney listed for Stanback for comment have been unsuccessful.
Though witnesses provided a license plate number and vehicle description, and physical evidence was collected in 1990, the case stalled until early 2022, when an anonymous Crime Stoppers tip led investigators to a man who may have been involved in the accident. However, this individual was not connected to the incident.
The crime lab revisited the evidence and analyzed a possible marijuana cigarette taken from the car in 1990, authorities revealed.
As per Sgt. Gavin Jackson, the DNA result matched an individual named Herbert Stanback, who was imprisoned at the now-defunct Charlotte Correctional center at the time of the incident.
Authorities visited Stanback twice at the Scotland Correctional Institution in Laurinburg, North Carolina, and on March 20, he confessed to hitting Buchanan in December 1989, Jackson added.
Interestingly, Stanback was imprisoned at Charlotte Correctional, but he was on work release at the time. He worked at a motel in Charlotte, just a few blocks away from where Buchanan was struck, and after leaving the motel, he hit her with his vehicle and fled the scene, according to Jackson.
“The vehicle was abandoned at the motel, and he ended up returning to prison that night,” Jackson concluded.
The suspect in Ruth Buchanan's hit-and-run case, who was identified as Herbert Stanback, was a resident of Charlotte at the time of the incident. After his confession, Stanback was charged and sentenced for his crime, affecting his existing prison sentence.
