There is a crack in the road, a line that runs from the northbound lane of Centre Road into the paved shoulder just a few metres south of the entrance to Joe Sams Park.
This marks the spot where 76-year-old Wayne Miller was hit and left for dead while out for his regular walk in Waterdown on the evening of Sept. 17, 2021. Nearly a year later, his younger brother, Jim Miller, stands in this exact spot — his dog Koda by his side — still searching, begging to know what happened to Wayne.
On this recent summer day, cars regularly zoom past. But a year ago, when the crash happened, Centre Road came to a dead end just past the park. Drivers would sometimes miss signs warning the road was closed, only to meet the dead end and have to turn around.
On the evening he was killed, Wayne was walking south on the east shoulder, heading toward Parkside Drive, when he was hit by an oncoming vehicle coming from the dead end.
Not a day has gone by since without Jim thinking about his big brother, a retired Flamborough Centre School gym teacher who left a mark on Waterdown and who deserved so much better. He wasn’t just a big brother, but also a father figure and teacher to Jim. Wayne was just 21, he and his wife newlyweds, when they took in 10-year-old Jim and raised him.
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But it’s not just the loss that causes Jim grief; his pain is compounded by unanswered questions. How could someone have hit Wayne and simply drove away? Not bothering to check if he was alive or dead? Not bothering to call 911?
“I can’t just let it go, I just need answers,” he says. “I’d probably forgive the guy.”
He wants whoever was behind the wheel to be held responsible, to “pay” for what they did.
“And then I can put to rest,” he says.
The family is now offering a $20,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever killed Wayne. It’s being funded by a former student of the beloved retired teacher.
Wayne continued to coach at Flamborough Centre in his retirement and taught English as a second language. Wayne loved to spend time outdoors, hiking and camping. He walked that route on Centre Road every day.
Jim started calling police about a month after the crash and hasn’t stopped calling — so much that his calls are now directed to a supervising officer.
Wayne’s death is among a significant spike in fatal pedestrian crashes in Hamilton over the last two years. This includes nine people killed in 2021 and 11 so far this year.
Jim knows the detectives are busy, but worries his brother’s case is being forgotten.
Clifford (Cliff) Hogan was sitting in the backyard of his Centre Road home when he heard a huge bang. The long-haul trucker was home for the week because he was getting married. He was relaxing and having a beer. When he heard the bang, he went running out front.
He says he saw a white vehicle — that he thinks was a Nissan — back up and then drive around something on the road.
At first Hogan wasn’t sure if it was an animal, as they often see coyotes in the area. His daughter, standing on the front porch, screamed that someone had been hit and to call 911.
Hogan, who has first-aid training, ran over and began CPR.
“He didn’t say nothing to me,” Hogan says. “He looked in my eyes … I looked at him and all I knew in that moment I couldn’t stop (trying to save him).”
Hogan held onto the 76-year-old stranger as his life slipped away.
“I felt his pulse, real weak breathing — and then it quit,” he says.
Others ran up in the chaos. “Will he be OK?” asked some younger guys. Hogan says he wasn’t sure.
“I’m no hero,” Hogan says, adding that he just focused on doing compressions. But Wayne could not be saved.
In the months since, Hogan runs through that day over and over.
His voice breaking, he questions why he didn’t look for a licence plate. In the moment, with his focus on a dying Wayne, he didn’t think to look closely.
This is the ripple effect of tragedy. It affects not just Wayne’s family, but people across the community, including many who knew the 76-year-old as a teacher.
Hamilton police received the 911 call at 8 p.m. that September night, with patrol officers arriving at the scene within two minutes, according to police records.
The severity of the crash was immediately clear and the collision reconstruction unit — a team of four specially trained detectives who investigate the most serious of crashes in Hamilton — was called in. They arrived at 11:10 p.m. The investigation is led by Det. Wes Wilson.
Police say the investigation is ongoing, including detectives working to confirm Wayne’s exact movements that night.
That night, there were little league games at Joe Sams Park and people at the dog park.
Jim thinks it’s likely his brother took in some of the baseball — the kids playing that day spanned ages seven to 11. Wayne often wandered the baseball diamonds on his walks. Jim would usually join him in the morning and Wayne — always fit — would walk again in the evenings. He was about a 10-minute walk away from home when he was hit.
But police say they haven’t confirmed whether Jim went into the park that night.
Both collision reconstruction detectives and the forensic branch attended the scene.
Jim wants to know what they found; what evidence — if any — has been collected. In his frequent calls to police, he’s made many suggestions, some with the help of a retired police officer who is a friend of the family: Why not interview everyone at the park that day? Can you collect cellphone data from the area? Has any evidence been sent for DNA analysis?
The Spectator sent a long list of questions to police, which the collision reconstruction unit answered by email.
Jim says he was initially told there was no evidence at the scene. But police confirmed they have “recovered some physical items from the area of the collision that are relevant to the investigation.”
But police won’t say what they found because the investigation is ongoing.
At the scene, police did a ground search, took photos and video. Wayne’s body was sent for an autopsy. But, again, police say they cannot share details of what the results showed.
Police would not detail specific evidence collected, but confirmed that the Centre of Forensic Sciences (CFS) is involved. The CFS in Toronto is responsible for DNA testing and other forensic analysis.
While there were several people who saw the immediate aftermath of the collision, including Hogan, police have not found any witnesses who directly saw the impact.
Hogan clearly describes a white SUV, likely a Nissan. But police were also told that there was a red vehicle in the area, followed by the white SUV.
Whichever vehicle hit Wayne would have likely had front-end damage.
Police also confirmed that they have obtained some records related to the use of cellular towers in the area and are analyzing that data.
Detectives have contact information for those registered with the little league who played in the park that day, but police say they’re still working to determine who was actually there.
Police have issued appeals for witnesses to come forward, including a Crime Stoppers video.
Police and the family know there is someone out there, maybe more than one person, who knows something. Even a small detail can help solve a case.
Anyone with information is asked to call Det. Const. Wes Wilson of the collision reconstruction unit at 905-546-4753 or 905-546-4755.
To remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or crimestoppershamilton.com.