Bristol

Investigators released a new lead Tuesday in the hit-and-run that killed 16-year-old Alan Hess Saturday morning along County Road 120, near County Road 19. Police worked with a local dealership Tuesday and received specific information about the vehicle that was involved. Investigators determined the vehicle driven by the suspect was an orange, 2007 or newer, Jeep Wrangler likely with front passenger side damage. Hess’ family says he was walking home from getting items at a convenience store when he was struck.

The life of a teen with plans of being a Marine was taken in an instant early Saturday morning.  Elkhart County police are investigating the death of the 16-year-old as a hit and run. Alan Hess was found at 12:10 a.m. in a ditch on the south side of S.R. 120, just west of C.R. 19 in Bristol, according to an Elkhart County Sheriff’s Department news release.  That's only a couple of blocks from where the teen lived. Family members say Hess was walking home after going out to get some candy at the nearby 7-11.

BRISTOL — Absence may make the heart grow fonder, but that doesn't mean the time apart is any easier. After being in Afghanistan for more than five months, a local soldier has returned home and he couldn't wait to see his 6-year-old daughter. Army Private First Class Chris Overmyer has been in Afghanistan since June. Away from his daughter, Caitlyn, for both her birthday and Christmas, he wanted their reunion to be special. So he went to Bristol Elementary School at lunchtime and waited for her to come down the hall.

Just before 12:30 p.m. Friday, a passer-by called 911 saying flames and smoke were visible in the area of a house on C.R. 23, between C.R. 102 and the Indiana Toll Road. Firefighters quickly located the burning house in the 51000 block of C.R. 23 and called for mutual aid. There's no immediate information available on whether anyone was in the house at the time. Reporter John Paul will have more on this stoy on Friday's 5 and 6 p.m. news on WSBT22.

Elkhart County police say charges have been filed in connection with the 2008 murder of Sheena Kiska. Prosecutors have charged 29-year-old Tyrice Halliburton with murder. Police say he was her neighbor. Kiska was killed in her Bristol apartment. She couldn't afford to break her lease after a break-in. One month later, she was found stabbed to death. Sheena's family is pressing for a new state law - “Sheena's Law” - that would give tenants worried about their safety a way to break their lease.

BRISTOL — Two years have passed since 23-year-old Sheena Kiska was found dead, stabbed in her apartment. Since that day, there have been benefit concerts to help her two children, a wrongful death lawsuit against the apartment complex where she died and a legislative attempt to pass a bill in her honor. And yet no one has been arrested. No one charged. No motive given, no suspects named. Instead, in the two years since March 18, 2008, there mostly has been silence. Bristol Town Marshal Michael Swallow said there is very little information he can share about the case, except to say his department's investigation was turned over to the Elkhart County prosecutor's office in April 2009.

A Bristol woman escaped serious injury when the vehicle she was riding in Saturday night struck a deer on U.S. 12 in Cass County. The Cass County Sheriff's Department reported Owen Stewart, 66, of Bristol, was driving west on U.S. 12, just west of M-40, when his vehicle struck a deer at 7:52 p.m. His passenger, Dolly Stewart, 60, was taken to Elkhart General Hospital by Porter Township Ambulance. According to a hospital nursing supervisor, she was treated for injuries and later released.

Additional firefighters were called to help early Wednesday as crews battled a garage blaze east of Bristol. The fire was reported at 2:10 a.m. in the 13000 block Indiana 120, just east of York Elementary School. There were no reports of injuries. Middlebury firefighters called for assistance from Bristol as the fire continued to burn. Elkhart County dispatch said the garage was a larger structure than a typical residential garage. There was no immediate word on what was in the garage or any cause of the fire.