CAPE CORAL, Fla. — Almost two weeks after 8-year-old Layla Aiken was killed by a hit and run driver in Cape Coral, investigators were back at the scene of the crash. Friday, they were using a new laser mapping technology called FARO to help give them a better idea of what happened.
Layla was waiting for her school bus at the corner of Northeast Third Avenue and Nineteenth Terrace on Monday, March 25 when she was struck and killed. Within days, police tracked down the red pickup truck they believe was involved, and have identified a person of interest. But they have yet to make an arrest.
Sergeant Allan Kolak of the Cape Coral Polcie Department told Fox 4 that FARO allows investigators to take exact measurements of a scene.
"It will actually map the entire area in 360 degrees," Kolak said. "It's measuring the roadway dimensions, the signs are...it's basically like a 3-D map."
Forensics professor Dr. David Thomas of Florida Gulf Coast University said that FARO may even help investigators determine how fast the truck was traveling when it struck Layla.
"What they're trying to do now is put together a case," Thomas said. "Every element of that case has to be back-tracked and put together so that they can present it to the State Prosecutor."
Kolak said that the FARO device used Friday belongs to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. He said it was one of the first times Cape Coral police used FARO to help them gather evidence to build a case.
