GULF SHORES, Ala. -- Nicholas Hoeft looked at his sister-in-law, Amanda Hoeft, noting how slightly built she “appeared” to be.

“Don’t let that fool you,” he said. “She’s not the girly girl type. She’s not afraid to get dirty.”

So it was no surprise to him when she plunged her bare feet into mud, muck and water as she, Nicholas and his brothers Josh and Matthew searched over a sloping roadside on County Road 4 East in Gulf Shores.

It was along that roadside where their father and father-in-law, Michael Hoeft, was cycling and killed in a hit-and-run accident on Feb. 21. The Hoefts were hoping to turn up some evidence to help police find the identity of the driver in the fatal accident.

“It is just something my father would have wanted,” Matthew Hoeft said of the family’s search. “He was a firefighter. He spent his life helping people. I think it was something we felt we really had to be part of to help bring closure to everything that’s going on. It’s not easy to say the least. We’re just trying to help each other get through it.”

And as Amanda’s barefoot plunged into the cold muck, she bumped into something buried in the mire.

“I’ve got to take my hat off to my wife,” Josh Hoeft said. “She found a very good piece. We’ve been told it was one of two pieces, but this piece had multiple numbers and as soon as that came about we got the call that they knew the make and model. “

That piece of evidence helped identify the vehicle and its owner. The 2001 black Ford Explorer belongs to Dennis Hutcheson of Gulf shores.

"We know the actual vehicle we are looking for and the guy," Sgt. Jason Woodruff of the Gulf Shores Police Department said. "He is not cooperating and he will not tell us where the vehicle is. I'm sure he's given it to somebody to take out of the area or taken it out of the area."

The Hoeft brothers, accompanied with Ray Reynolds of Gulf Shores Church of Christ, their father’s church, met with a small contingent of media members Friday afternoon in Gulf Shores.

They entered the room just after learning the newest information about the car and its owner.

“The pain that I see in my family is very hard for me as well as my brothers to cope with,” Josh Hoeft said. “I’d like to let everyone know how truly thankful we are for Gulf Shores Church of Christ accepting my father and being a huge part of his life. Gulf Shores Police Department has went above and beyond.”

Woodruff said the public’s help could be vital in the case and asked anyone who saw the Ford Explorer on Feb. 21 to please come forward.  It bears the tag 5A86T71 and citizens with information are urged to call the department at 251-968-1238.  During non-business hours or on weekends, calls may be directed to 251-968-2431.  Anyone wishing to remain anonymous may call GSPD’s Crime Line at 251-968-1499.

“If anybody can step forward and help the police in any way we’d really appreciate it,” Josh Hoeft said. “We know whoever has done this knows what they did and they will only have to face God one day.”

Josh and his brothers had no doubt their father would have forgiveness in his heart for the driver of the car.

“Because of the type person my father was, he would forgive this person, but he needs whoever has done this to step forward so that our family can have closure,” he said.

The surviving Hoefts are struggling to make sense of the sudden death of their family patriarch.

“I would forgive anyone that would ask for it,” Nicholas Hoeft said. “I would hope that they would want forgiveness. But there are different people that just don’t care. Time will only tell.”

Besides his three sons Matthew, 30, Josh, 28 and Nicholas, 27, Hoeft leaves behind a wife and eight grandchildren. Two more grandchildren are expected within the next five months.