MOUNT PLEASANT, MI — Last Monday would have been Ryan Tsatsos’ 18th birthday.
But Tsatsos (pronounced Chatch-us) never celebrated that day with friends and family. The Central Michigan University freshman was killed by a hit-and-run driver about two weeks prior, on Sunday, Nov.1. The driver remains at large.
“He was looking forward to taking that step of independence and becoming a true man and building his future,” his mother, Julie Tsatsos, said during a press conference held on the CMU campus Friday, Nov. 20.
“But he never got to experience it,” Tsatsos said.
The Macomb teen was walking back to his residence hall from a Halloween party just before midnight that evening when he was struck by the vehicle, which drove off after striking Tsatsos.
Those who were there with Ryan when he died call the teen a hero for pushing a young woman out of the way of the vehicle before it struck and killed him.
His mother said his friends did everything they could, but that the 17-year-old died almost instantly at the scene.
“They held him in their arms and they prayed,” she said. “They knew that, at that moment, he was with Jesus.”
Nearly three weeks later, police are searching for an unknown driver responsible for the 2015 De La Salle High School graduate’s death. His family and friends gathered at CMU Friday to, with the help of law enforcement and Crime Stoppers of Michigan, make a fervent plea for information about what happened that night and who was driving the car.
“Please, our family needs closure,” said Paul Tsatsos, Ryan’s father. “If you did this, come forward. If you know who did this, tell somebody. If you think you know anything, tell somebody.”
Crime Stoppers of Michigan announced Friday it will offer a $2,500 cash reward for information leading to an arrest in the case.
The CMU student’s death is the second tragedy this year for the Tsatsos family, who mourned the loss of Ryan’s only brother, Darryl Tsatsos, who died in a traffic crash in July.
“We were finally starting to see the sparkle in his eye and the laughter in his voice that had been missing since July,” Julie continued. “How could somebody kill my son so horrifically and just drive away? You don’t know what you’ve taken from us as a family. After my son’s death, Ryan was the one keeping me going.”
Ryan’s father, Paul Tsatsos, said he poured all his energy into his youngest son’s life after his eldest son’s death.
“I convinced him it was okay to go off to college,” Tsatsos said. “It was okay to make new friends. It was okay to have fun and meet new people. And I still had a chance to help him with his homework.
“But that all came to a screeching halt on Nov. 1 with a cruel knock on my front door.”
Tsatsos said his and his wife’s “world was shattered” by their son’s death, but said the courage Ryan displayed in his final moments gives him a reason to persevere.
“He had a choice: jump or push,” he said. “Anyone who knew Ryan was not surprised by the choice he made. He pushed, giving his own life for somebody else. That’s who he was. And that is why I get out of bed every morning. Ryan set a new standard that I have to live up to.”
Related: 40 tips but still no suspect in hit-and-run that killed CMU student
The woman the teen pushed out of the way is recovering from minor injuries, according to friends speaking at the press conference Friday.
Julie Tsatsos said the woman is suffering from “survivor’s remorse” and night terrors, as are many of Ryan’s friends who witnessed his death.
Police released new information in the case Monday, reporting detectives believe the car that struck and killed Ryan was “a dark, metallic blue” car.
“If anybody knows anything; a car for example that someone used to drive that may have changed color that used to be metallic blue,” Michigan State Police First Lt. Larry Schloegl said. “If there is a car that has front-end damage that matches that color. If somebody was driving a metallic blue car and is no longer driving that car, please contact Crime Stoppers.”
Schloegl said the damage to the vehicle is believed to be on the front of the car’s passenger side, including possible bumper, hood, fender and windshield damage.
“We do believe it’s a smaller car, but we don’t know make and model,” he said.
Contact Crime Stoppers with an anonymous tip by calling 1-800-773-2587 (SPEAK-UP) or visiting www.1800speakup.org or by texting “CSM” and your tip to 274637 (CRIMES).
Related: What we know about hit-and-run that killed CMU student
Anyone with information about the crash or driver and vehicle involved may also call the Michigan State Police Mount Pleasant Post at 989-773-5951 or the anonymous tip line at 1-877-616-4677.
Both of Ryan’s parents and four childhood friends, including Ryan’s roommate at CMU and three witnesses to the crash, all pleaded with anyone with information about the incident to come forward and speak with police.
Michael Tocco, a childhood friend of Ryan’s, expressed the huge impact that losing his friend has had on his and many other lives.
“We miss our friend very much,” Tocco said. “There’s so much that I’m going to miss out on doing with Ryan. I’ll never get to see you graduate college. I’ll never get to see you fall in love and get married. I’ll never get to love his children like my own. I won’t be able to be Uncle Michael to his kids. And my kids won’t have an Uncle Ryan Tsatsos.”
He said there “will always be a part of me missing” without Ryan in the world.
“Looking into the future is the hardest thing to wrap my head around,” Julie Tsatsos said. “Ryan was striving for a future that I will never see come true. I will never see him graduate from college. I will never help him decorate his first apartment. I will never meet his first real girlfriend. And I will never hear him say, ‘She’s the one, mom.’ I will never go to his wedding and I will never experience the joy of becoming a grandmother and telling his sons that they’re just like their father.
“I’m pleading with you, whoever did this, to just come forward.”
Mark Tower covers local government for MLive/The Saginaw News. Contact him at 989-284-4807, by email at mtower@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Google+.