International Manhunt Is on for Suspect in Nun's Death

Federal authorities are in the midst of an international manhunt for the suspected driver in the July 9, 2012, hit-and-run death of Sister Jacqueline Walsh, according to Newsday, which cites a law enforcement source in a report Monday.

Newsday reports that the suspect, Carlos Armando Ixpec-Chitay, is believed to have fled the country. The 30-year-old was known to frequent Water Mill and Riverhead, and authorities say he was behind the wheel of his employer's SUV when it fatally struck Sister Jackie, who was on a walk on Rose Hill Road in Water Mill. Sister Jackie, a 59-year-old pastoral associate at St. Edward the Confessor in Syosset, was staying at a retreat house with fellow members of the Sisters of Mercy.

Sister Jackie was discovered by a passerby at 8:30 p.m. that night, and an SUV with front-end damage with later found abandoned nearby.

According to Newsday, Southampton Town police and U.S. marshals twice came close to capturing Ixpec-Chitay after being tipped off to his whereabouts, but missed him by a few minutes both times.

Suffolk County Crime Stoppers has put up a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Ixpec-Chitay.

The suspect's brother, Miguel Ixpec-Chitay, was arrested in September for lying to federal investigators, after saying the two never spoke following the accident while, in fact, phone records showed they exchanged 19 calls. He was picked up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement at his home on Horton Avenue in Riverhead, early on the morning of Sept. 13, police said at the time. He was found guilty in December and is expected to be sentenced Tuesday in federal court.

In hopes that the fugitive Ixpec-Chitay will turn himself in, Newsday reports, authorities have also detained two of his relatives for immigration law violations.

Learn more at Newsday.com.