ELDRED TOWNSHIP -- Sgt. Derek Pagan grew up in the Kunkletown area, but the Fort Hood soldier's service to his country was cut short when he was killed by a hit-and-run driver.
It happened in Austin, Texas this past weekend.
Sgt. Derek Pagan was a 2005 Pleasant Valley graduate and graduated from Northampton Community College in 2009.
His family says he wanted to serve his country, travel, and further his education, but early Sunday morning a hit-and-run driver changed all of that.
"My son was tragically killed in Texas by a hit-and-run driver." That's what Lynn Pagan says she was told by two state troopers at her front door this weekend.
Sgt. Derek Pagan, her son, was serving his country at Fort Hood in Texas.
At their home near Kunkletown, the news has been hard to take.
"I cried and then I didn't. I cried, then I didn't, a lot of people said I am still in shock," said Pagan.
Investigators told Pagan's family he was found on the side of Route 183 in Austin, Texas by two passersby who stayed by his side until emergency responders arrived.
Sgt. Pagan had gone to a concert called Life in Color and was walking back to his hotel alone when the deadly hit and run happened.
"When someone just runs your son down and keeps going, how do you live with what you've done? You've taken my son, her brother, he didn't get to meet his niece, and all our family members are mourning," said Pagan.
Pagan grew up in a home in Eldred Township and hasn't been home in two years.
He's a Pleasant Valley 2005 grad and received his associates degree at Northampton Community College.
The family was looking forward to his trip home in May when he'd meet his niece Evangeline for the first time.
"Just doing everything we could possibly do in his time home," said Laura Pagan.
Pagan's older sister Laura is devastated and struggles to cope with the fact that her daughter will never meet him and she'll have to tell this story.
"Just that he was an amazing guy and that she would have loved him. She's just like him," said Laura Pagan.
Now the family is pleading for the driver to come forward as they prepare to bury their son, brother, and uncle.
"Come forward, maybe you were drinking, maybe you were high. It doesn't matter the reason. You killed my son and we want closure," said Sgt. Pagan's mother.
Detectives in Austin are investigating this hit-and-run accident.
Sgt. Derek pagan will be laid to rest next week in Monroe County.