JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – After seeing a news report about friends and family searching the area of a hit-and-run crash in Jacksonville for the victim's wedding band, the medical examiner found the damaged ring among the man's belongings and returned it to his widow Friday.
Lindsay Goodwin told News4Jax that the medical examiner saw Channel 4's report Thursday night and called her to tell her they had her husband's silver tungsten wedding band.
They told her they found it in the pocket of his shorts after they examined his body.
"I'm so thankful for Channel 4 getting the story out there," Lindsay Goodwin said.
Goodwin's husband, Donald "Wade" Goodwin, 39, was walking on the I-95 exit ramp to Zoo Parkway Saturday night when he was struck by a Ford Crown Victoria, which did not immediately stop, then by a tractor-trailer, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. He died at the scene.
Lindsay and Wade, 39, had been married more than two years. She said he would have turned 40 years old on Tuesday.
Brandon Haddock, Wade Goodwin's best friend, said it's still a mystery why his friend was walking along I-95.
"We're not sure how he got there or why. All we know is that it involved a hit-and-run," Haddock said. "One person has come forward that you reported. And a gentleman that called the police to report what they had seen."
Kevin Jackson told News4Jax that he saw Goodwin's body as he was driving with his girlfriend on I-95 and called 911.
"I couldn't believe there was a body on 95, and (I) couldn't really believe nobody would stop to see if this person was okay," Jackson said. "I had to make sure if this is someone who needs help I was going to try to help them."
Lindsay Goodwin said she was thankful that Jackson stopped to help her husband.
Troopers initially put out a report, saying they were looking for a car that was missing its right side rear view mirror, but by Sunday morning announced that they had identified the car that struck Goodwin, which was driven by 31-year-old Skakina Nicole Bradham. Charges are pending, according to FHP.