Silver Alert Turns Into Hit-And-Run Investigation In Harrah

What started out as a Silver Alert in the metro this week is now a hit-and-run investigation, after a deaf and autistic man was left on the side of a dark road with nothing but his bicycle early Wednesday morning.

James Murphy's caregiver found him at OU Medical Center almost two days after the crash because he had been checked in under a different last name. He finally got to go home Saturday morning, and now, he is hoping witnesses or the driver who hit him will speak up about what happened.

There is a long road to recovery ahead for 49-year-old Murphy. He told News 9 he set out alone on his bicycle early Wednesday morning, struck by an impulse to see a friend. He was not expecting what struck him next.

“The driver on the street this way ran over me,” he said.

Murphy said two cars going in opposite directions tried to pass him at the same time. Although he is legally deaf, Murphy did hear honking before flying from his bike in the 200 block of S Triple X Road. He had been traveling northbound, and lay there on the side of the road for at least an hour before Harrah police found him.

Officers sent him to the hospital, but left his red and black 10-speed bike behind.

“They said that they knew the bike was still out here when they left, and they came back out here to check and it was gone, so we have no evidence of even what happened,” said Murphy’s caregiver Heather Honeycutt.

Now, they are pleading for the public's help learning anything about the crash, building an incentive with a GoFundMe account.

"We are offering, trying to get enough money up to offer a reward for information on what did happen,” Honeycutt said.

Murphy hopes drivers take caution at night, because you never know who might be sharing the road.

“They drive too fast like it’s a highway,” he said.

Murphy thinks the vehicle that hit him was a dark colored SUV or pickup. If you have any information about the crash or the location of Murphy's bicycle, call Harrah police at (405) 454-1203.