Tammy Russo stands on Toll Gate Road in Warwick, at the spot of the hit-and-run accident in August that killed her brother, Michael R. Russo. Despite dozens of interviews and reviewing security tapes, the police have not found the driver.

The Providence Journal / Bill Murphy

WARWICK — The yellow spray-painted circle in the middle of Toll Gate Road has begun to fade in the nearly three months since Michael R. Russo’s body lay there in the early morning hours of Aug. 2, when the 23-year-old was run over by a driver who never stopped.

Nothing, however, has faded for his father, Michael H. Russo of Coventry, who says he can’t believe that no one has had the decency or conscience to come forward.

Working with the Warwick Police Department, the Russo family is offering a $1,000 reward for any information that will lead to the conclusion of the investigation.

“Why wouldn’t somebody stop?” Russo said yesterday, standing near the spot where his son was struck at about 3 a.m.

He said he knows that the police have many questions, including whether or not his son had been lying in the road after a night of partying. But he said he has no doubt that the driver knew he hit something.

“Michael weighed more than 200 pounds, probably more like 220,” Russo said of his son, who he described as easy-going and fun-loving. “I know if I drive over a twig in my car. There’s no way they didn’t know they hit something. If you made a mistake and it was an accident, why wouldn’t you just come forward?”

Lt. Raymond Gallucci, head of the department’s traffic division, said his officers are still investigating any leads, but felt that this was a good time to “appeal to the conscience of the operator of that vehicle and anyone they may have spoken to.”

It is likely, he said, that the driver may have confided to others, and anyone with any knowledge needs to come forward. It doesn’t have to be for the reward, he said, and his investigators will accept confidential or anonymous information.

According to police reports, the younger Michael Russo spent Friday night, Aug. 1, partying with his girlfriend and friends and mixing alcohol with the prescription relaxant Xanax. They all went to Effin’s Last Resort nightclub in Smithfield before returning to the apartment at 1084 Toll Gate Rd. where the younger Russo often stayed.

At some point shortly before 3 a.m. Russo left the apartment, possibly after an argument, and walked outside to the road, where he may have laid down near the center line, according to Gallucci and traffic officer Yerv Parnagian.

Parnagian, who is the lead investigator in the case, said that although interviews with dozens of people, including delivery truck drivers who were in the area, have not led to a conclusion, the investigation continues. The police have even worked to enhance the blurry traffic images captured by security cameras mounted on businesses in the area.

The elder Russo doesn’t buy the scenario that his son lay down in the road, but says he also knows that the young man wasn’t perfect and had been struggling with problems related to drinking and a penchant for partying. (According to police records, Russo had prior arrests stemming from driving violations or drug possession.)

Yesterday, with his daughter, Tammy, by his side, Michael H. Russo said he never had any doubt that his only son would get his life back on track. A strong-looking man who is a diesel truck mechanic, Russo crumples with grief every time he tries to talk about the son he describes as a “good kid with a heart of gold.”

He said that until the driver who hit Michael is found, he will not stop his quest. “Not until the day I die,” he said.

bpoliche@projo.com