SHERBURNE – On the evening of July 5, 197 days ago, the body of 59-year-old Jeffery Maxson, a husband and father, was discovered along the roadway on State Highway 80, near the Rogers Conservation Center.

Chenango County Sheriff detectives say the Sherburne resident was killed the day before, on July 4, and was the victim of a fatal hit and run.

The Chenango County Sheriff’s Office and Chenango County District Attorney’s Office both reported this week a criminal investigation into the incident was still ongoing.

Chenango County Sheriff Ernest Cutting said, “We have a suspect. There is no danger to the public. Once we received the data, we expect to wrap up in expeditious time.”

“Where we are is, we are waiting for forensic data to come back from the lab. Once that I done we fully anticipate moving forward with the case,” said Cutting.

District Attorney Michael Ferrarese said he could not discuss specifics, “This is an active ongoing criminal investigation. Therefore, I am prohibited from making any comment at his time.”

However, the D.A. said, “Chenango County utilizes the New York State Police for lab work and any type of forensic evidence, and there are only so many scientists and technicians and an overwhelming number of cases needing forensic analysis unfortunately.”

Ferrarese said it was essential that due diligence be done in the case before charges could be filed. He said the D.A.’s office could hire private labs to do the testing but the costs would be very high and have to be paid by the county.

Cutting also explained that once official charges are filed investigators and prosecutors would be required to hand over all information in the case to the court and defense.

“We have to respect rules of discovery set by New York State and once charges are filed the discovery starts,” he said. “We have to make sure all our i’s are dotted and t’s are crossed before we move forward.”

On July 5 police received and emergency call reporting of an unresponsive male off the shoulder of the road.

The sheriff’s office reported that at about 8:40 p.m., on July 4, Maxson, a husband and father, was walking west bound on State Highway 80 when he was struck by a suspected pick-up truck that was traveling east which then drove away, heading eastward.

In July investigators released security camera images of a black Ram pickup on July 5 and received tips that led to the location of the truck and a possible driver two days later. The vehicle has been seized for further investigation.

Police conducted multiple interviews, check area cameras, executing several search warrants on phones and at certain locations. Detectives have requested cell phone information from phone companies to be turned over for investigation.

On July 23, Sheriff Detective Chad O’Hara said “We’re continuing to work on it to gather as much evidence as possible to see where that leads us. We want to do everything we can to make the family happy and figure out what happened that day.”