Hundreds of people gathered in Brockton, Massachusetts, saying kind words about Carl Yancey, a man who would drive home co-workers who needed his help, who helped a man who had dyslexia get a real estate license.
The vigil is to remember him and to keep the public aware to help find the driver who killed him.
"The grief I'm dealing with. I'm very angry," said his sister Lauren Yancey. grieving for her little brother, who would have celebrated his 32nd birthday Thursday.
She is angry about the death of the gentle giant struck and killed Sunday night on Belmont Street as he crossed from his longtime job at Shaw's to go to 7-Eleven. The driver who hit him never stopped.
"He would have helped anybody. And if he would have hit somebody, he would have stopped. That's how we were raised. We were raised to help people, even people that we don't know. And just to leave him on the side, just to leave him like that is unbelievable," Lauren Yancey said.
At 6-foot 7-inches, Carl Yancey was hard to miss and he will be impossible not to miss for his friends who say he was a giver, a man loved for his outgoing, oversized personality and heart to match.
"They called him the mayor here because that's how he was. He was 6-foot 7-inches, 300 pounds. He was just a lovable teddy bear. He was just so awesome. He is going to be missed by all of us," said Denise Taylor, whose son is one of Carl's best friends.
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"My friend came up from North Carolina, she was a church member and when she needed help with a turkey for Thanksgiving and she didn't really have that much money for it, he paid for it for her," said his friend Michelle Rockwood.
Meanwhile, Brockton Police are looking for the driver who hit him, hoping surveillance video from nearby businesses, including 7-Eleven, will yield clues.
His sister, Lauren, will not give up.
"It's painful and it hurts not to hear his voice. To know that he's not coming back through these doors again. I just really would like the person, whoever hit him, just come forward, so we can get this grieving and the forgiveness and just start to heal," she said.
Police say the car involved likely has front end damage. If you can help, call Brockton Police 508-941-0200.
