SOUTHWORTH — Law enforcement agencies are searching for a hit-and-run driver whose vehicle struck and killed Katie Phillips, a good Samaritan motorist early Thursday morning as she assisted another driver’s disabled sedan at Peppermill Place Southeast and Sedgwick Road in South Kitsap.

Phillips, 34, had retrieved a can of gasoline and was filling the disabled car’s gas tank along the westbound lane of Peppermill Place, near the Southworth ferry dock, when she was hit by a possibly gold or tan vehicle. The driver failed to stop and continued on past the incident scene, said Trooper Russ Winger of the Washington State Patrol.

Phillips was a Washington State Ferries employee from Kitsap County.

On March 23, Amy Scarton, the Washington State Ferries assistant secretary of WSDOT/Ferries Division, issued this statement about their employee’s death:

“On Thursday, we lost a beloved member of the WSF family, on-call Terminal Attendant Katie Phillips. I would like to express my deepest condolences to Katie’s family and friends. I have heard from many of her fellow employees who described how wonderful she was to work with and how she was always willing to lend a helping hand. Her positive presence at the Southworth terminal will never be forgotten.”

“It was a tragedy,” Winger said. “If they’d stopped, that’s all it would have been. Now we’re looking at a homicide felony hit-and-run. We’re just hoping they can reverse that. The quicker they come in, the quicker they make it known that is was them, the better off they’d be.

“We do hope that this person who was driving the car will come back and get in touch with law enforcement and make it right.”

Anyone with information about the incident or the suspect should call Washington State Patrol at 360-473-0300.