OCALA, Fla. — A 3-year-old boy found lying on a Marion County roadway overnight was struck by a vehicle that drove off Friday, and troopers need your help finding the driver.

  • Jase Nichols, 3, is in critical condition after hit-and-run
  • He was struck overnight on NE Jacksonville Road in Marion
  • Authorities searching for female driver in gold Chevrolet

According to the Florida Highway Patrol and the incident report from the Marion County Sheriff's Office, 48-year-old Thomas Cornelius said he stopped to check on 3-year-old Jase Nichols, who was lying in the northbound lane of NE Jacksonville Road, near NE 77th Street.

As he was checking on the bleeding and crying boy, Cornelius said a car came down the road, and "he moved out of the way," the FHP report said. But the car struck the boy and kept going.

Cornelius said the car appeared to be a gold-colored Chevrolet, possibly a Malibu. The driver was described as a white female with dirty-blonde hair, in her 30s and wearing glasses, troopers said.

The child's distraught mother, 33-year-old Shanette Kelly, arrived at the scene and told troopers that she was asleep and when she woke up, she could not find her child, stated the Marion County Sheriff's Office, which added there was no signs of neglect present at the child's home.

The boy was taken to UF Health Shands Cancer Hospital in Gainesville in critical condition, according to the FHP. Marion County Fire Rescue confirmed with Spectrum News 13 that it transported a 3-year-old child to the hospital.

“Whether that child was sleeping in the road or had already been injured — that part I don't know. But we are trying to figure out how the child got there,” Lt. Pat Riodan with Florida Highway Patrol.

The child’s home is about three blocks from the neighborhood entrance, and it’s another 100 yards to where the boy was found.

The toddler's godmother said the child is in good condition, but she would not elaborate on how the child got out of the house.

At this point, the child’s parents are not facing any charges.

Anyone with information is asked to call the FHP by calling 1-800-387-1290 or Crime Stoppers of Marion County at 1-352-369-6880.