BOSTON (MyFoxBoston.com) - Boston police on Saturday identified 38-year-old Anita Kurmann as the bicyclist who was hit and killed by a flatbed tractor trailer in the Back Bay on Friday morning.
Kurmann was a thyroid surgeon who came to the United States from Switzerland for science research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, according to an email sent by Darrell Kotton, director of Boston University Medical Center's Kotton Lab.
"Anita was close to many of us, and and the shock and grief we feel at this loss is overwhelming. She was a regular early morning presence in the cell culture room and spent long hours with many of us developing her project," Kotton wrote. "She found out with great joy that her work was accepted for publication just days before her death and spoke often about how important her work was to her."
Kurmann, a Cambridge resident, was planning to move home to Switzerland, where she was due to succeed her mentor as chief of endocrine surgery later in the year, Kotton said.
Kurmann was riding her bike near Beacon Street and Massachusetts Ave., shortly after 7 a.m., when the trailer hit her and drove away. She died soon after the impact.
Immediately following Friday's accident, Boston police released photos of the truck, asking the public for help in finding the driver. Investigators were not sure whether the driver knew he had hit someone.
A source tells Fox 25 the driver called police and told them his whereabouts after his friend notified him that police were looking for a truck that looked like his.
Police did not release further details of the investigation on Saturday.
Colleagues are planning a memorial to honor Kurmann, as investigators seek answers. Police ask anyone with information about the incident to call detectives at 617-343-4470.