Monday, Aug. 8, 2005 | 10:39 a.m.
The van was white.
That's all that is known for sure about the vehicle that chased a 22-year-old Nellis airman and struck his motorcycle, killing him, in a suspected road rage incident on Interstate 15.
More than two months after Bryan McCarthy's death, his father and a Nevada Highway Patrol trooper say their only hope in solving the crime is for someone to come forward.
"As it stands, it's a cold case," Trooper Brett Bogden said. "And without any plate information, it's going to turn into an unsolved case."
McCarthy and a friend were riding motorcycles north on Interstate 15 just after 11 p.m. on May 27 when they had an encounter with the white van.
The van swerved into McCarthy's lane, nearly striking him, Bogden said. In response, his friend slapped the van with his hand, then both riders accelerated to get away from the vehicle and avoid another confrontation.
Witnesses reported seeing the two motorcycles and a van that appeared to be pursuing them at 60 to 70 mph.
McCarthy and his friend got off the highway at the U.S. 95 exit. Witnesses said the van driver made a quick lane change to the right to make the exit and continued chasing them.
The van came up behind McCarthy on the ramp and struck his bike. McCarthy was thrown into a large light pole and died at the scene, Bogden said.
His motorcycle, a 2005 Suzuki that he had recently purchased, hit a wall and landed about 100 feet from his body.
After that, the van hit another motorcycle that also happened to be on the ramp and was ahead of McCarthy. The second man was knocked from his motorcycle and suffered minor injuries.
McCarthy's friend was ahead of both of them and did not witness the collisions.
The van was last seen heading south on U.S. 95. No one was able to get a description of the driver. Even the gender of the driver is unknown. It's also not clear whether the vehicle had Nevada plates.
A plastic piece from a wheel-well matches that of a 1997 to 2004 Oldsmobile Silhouette or Chevrolet Venture minivan, Bogden said.
While road rage is suspected, it's also possible that the driver was impaired and changed lanes in front of the bikes and then hit McCarthy and the other man without retribution in mind.
Either way, the driver's actions were criminal, Bogden said. If the driver is caught, he or she could be facing charges of hit and run with death, felony reckless driving, voluntary manslaughter and other offenses.
Finding the driver who killed his son has become Tom McCarthy's mission.
"Their conscience will eat them up one day," he said during a phone call from his Florida home. "They should be off the street. What are they going to do next time?"
Bryan McCarthy, who loved fishing and hunting, was raised in Montana. His 3-year-old son, Brock, still lives there with McCarthy's ex-wife.
The airman came to Nellis Air Force Base in mid-September 2004, and he worked as a maintenance mechanic for rescue squadron helicopters, Tom McCarthy said.
Bryan always wanted to own a motorcycle, his father said. He made his first payment on his bike a day or two before he died.
"I knew eventually he was going to buy one. I rode a bike when I was his age and all of my kids learned how to ride motorcycles," Tom McCarthy said. "I told him Vegas didn't seem like the place to ride."
Anyone who has information on this collision is asked to call Bogden at 432-5218.
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