KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Rita Huscher of Olathe, Kan., was killed Monday in a hit and run accident on K-7 Highway and Prairie Star Parkway.
Huscher was not wearing a seatbelt when a roll-off truck hit her vehicle on the rear bumper sending her car into a bridge pillar.
Huscher was ejected from the car and died.
Huscher 's neighbor, Faye Byrd said the empty house and empty drive-way next door is difficult to see.
"She was just a sweet lady; she was just a sweet lady," said Byrd.
Huscher loved art and was an avid painter. She also loved to teach art and had a studio in DeSoto, Kan., called Rita's Art Shack.
Friend and student, Margaret Johnston said that Huscher also taught painting in several cities in Kansas and Missouri.
"She'd get along with everybody," Johnston explained. "She'd go every place to teach; and I bet there are people all over who are mourning her death.”
Kansas State Highway Patrol investigators have recovered the truck they believe hit Rita's car and left the scene.
An arrest could come soon in the case.
