KSHB 41 reporter Lily O’Shea Becker covers Franklin and Douglas counties in Kansas. Share your story idea with Lily.
—
Following a deadly hit-and-run crash just outside of Lawrence on Thursday, University of Kansas student Gage Monse, 19, and his family wanted to help in any way they could.
Monse grew up in a house within view of where Elsa McGrain, 20, was hit and killed. A security camera on his family's home captured events surrounding the hit-and-run crash.
McGrain, a KU student, was out for a run about 6 p.m. Thursday in the 1700 block of E. 1500 Road, just outside of Lawrence, when she was struck by a vehicle, according to the Douglas County Sheriff's Office (DGSO).
"A lot of people run, ride bikes, walk their dogs on our road, so it's not an uncommon occurrence for people to be on this road," Monse, whose house is on the outskirts of Lawrence, said.
A passerby reported finding McGrain's body around 3:35 a.m. Friday.
Once on scene, sheriff's deputies determined McGrain had died.
Monse woke up Friday morning to something he's not used to — police lights outside his window.
“We woke up, saw police outside on that street, and we were kind of confused because they had it all shut off and really hadn’t seen anything like that," Monse said.
Monse said when he and his family found out what happened, they wanted to help.
"So, we looked on our security cameras, and we caught her running in front of our house shortly before she passed and we caught the white truck speeding away," he said.
DGSO released an image of a suspect vehicle described as a white truck with no side markings on Friday.
"We didn't really know what happened until we were looking at the video, sending it to detectives, and it kind of hit me, like wow, that actually did happen," Monse said.
After examining evidence and receiving "numerous" tips from the public, deputies located the suspect vehicle and driver on Sunday, according to George Diepenbrock, DGSO public information officer.
Deputies arrested a 36-year-old Lawrence man for involuntary manslaughter and failure to appear.
RELATED | Suspect arrested in Lawrence hit-and-run that killed 20-year-old University of Kansas student
“Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you," said Nancy Chartrand, the great-aunt of McGrain, to DGSO. "It’s just the first step.”
Chartrand, whose children grew up with McGrain, said the news of her great-niece's death is the kind of news to bring you to your knees.
Chartrand said if people take anything away from McGrain's passing, she hopes it's how kind her great-niece was.
“Elsa kind of was always that steady, calm, kind, bright light," she said. "Some people just have that about them and that’s what she had.”
Chartrand became emotional while saying her heart goes out to McGrain's sorority sisters at Chi Omega and other KU students.
"Especially as a college kid, you don't think about death or dying," said Monse. "You have the rest of your college career ahead of you and your career after that, your job. It really hits home."
Monse said he goes to the same church McGrain attended.
"We talked about her on Sunday and it made me really think that we really need to hold onto life and it's precious," Monse said.
McGrain was studying pre-medicine at KU. She was set to graduate in 2026, according to DGSO.
—
