Driver said he thought he struck an animal, not a person

The daughter of man killed as he walked along Highway 50 East near Dayton Hill said Sunday she can't believe someone could run her father down and think they hit an animal.

"I just don't see how he could have thought he hit a dog," said Bernice Rosky. Her father, Gene E. Hunt, 62, was struck and killed as he crossed the highway.

"Even if you hit a dog you still want to stop," she said.

Hunt was found dead around 8:25 p.m. Saturday in the median at the top of Dayton Hill.

Passersby called police after seeing Hunt's lifeless body lying in the roadway, said Trooper Patrick McGill, Nevada Highway Patrol.

McGill said the driver, Corey Joe Frolander, 22, of Silver Springs, told authorities he thought he'd struck an animal and was looking for a telephone to call animal control.

A Lyon County deputy pulled over Frolander in Dayton shortly after the accident. He was charged with felony leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death and failure to report an accident. He is being held in the Carson City Jail in lieu of $40,000 bail.

Rosky said her father apparently was trying to get home from Choppers Saloon in Mound House.

Karen O'Donnell, owner of Choppers, said Hunt already was intoxicated when he came into the bar on Saturday night.

"We took his keys from him and I told him I would pay for a cab," she said.

"He decided not to wait I guess," said Rosky who is six months pregnant with her second child.

Early Sunday morning she rode out to pick up her father's car from the parking lot of Choppers. "He should have called me, but I have been so busy with working and being pregnant I don't think he wanted to bother me."

Hunt is the father of six children, Rosky is his youngest. He has lived in Dayton for 12 years.

Rosky said most of her father's family lives in California. One of her sisters is coming from Virginia for the funeral.

Hunt had no insurance and recently lost his job as a slot technician, Rosky said. She's not sure how she'll pay the funeral expenses.

"I don't have the money. I am going to have to sell anything I can of his," she said.

Choppers is considering helping raise funds for expenses.

"He was a good man," Rosky said sighing. "He had lots of friends and he loved Harley Davidsons."

McGill said alcohol is not a factor in the accident.