TUCSON, Ariz. — Looking at pictures, it's easy to see that Michelle Arbizo and her son, Dominic, were inseparable.
"Weekends -- we were always together," Michelle said. "It's probably why he never had a girlfriend. If I was there, he wasn't far behind. Or if he was there, I wasn't far behind."
Dominic came into this world on January 4, 1999. Exactly 20 years later, he left this world -- killed in a hit and run near Marana.
Michelle says the past eight months have been really tough without him.
"He was my partner," Michelle said. "We had a bond like no other."
Dominic spent a lot of time on his horse roping. That's where Michelle now feels her son's presence.
"I took up roping, and learned how to rope at the age of 50," Michelle said. "Just to be able to feel that connection, and that's where I feel him the most."
Detectives believe a driver in a green or blue pickup truck hit Dominic around 2 a.m. on Anyway Road, between Orange Grove and Manville Roads. The Pima County Sheriff's Department is still investigating the hit and run, but there's been no new information or leads in the case.
Michelle is pleading for anyone who might know something to come forward.
"Somebody out there knows something, and I'm hoping that somebody will come forward and finally say something," she said.
Dominic's family is holding a benefit memorial lunch and dance fundraiser this Sunday. It's at the El Casino Ballroom on Sept. 8 and starts at noon. They hope to raise $6,000 from ticket and raffle sales.
Proceeds will go toward increasing the 88-crime reward for information about the hit and run, as well as billboards.
