Body of dead missionary to be taken home
The body of 21-year-old Mormon missionary, Aaron Patiole, will be flown back to Australia for burial this week.
More than $9,000 was raised through a fundraiser to help take Patiole’s body back to his homeland.
A Police source who refused to be named said the driver had been found at Sapunaoa, a village of Falealili, where the hit and run occurred.
The source said the driver had been charged with negligent driving causing death and with failing to report the fatality to police.
The missionary was struck while he was walking with his companion.
"Elder Aaron Ahkau Matapa Patiole, age 21, was killed when he was struck by a vehicle in Upolu, Samoa, as he and his companion were walking together," said Eric Hawkins, a spokesman for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in an earlier statement.
Patiole had been in the Samoa Apia Mission since December, 2016.