Reward posted for driver who fatally ran over Twin Cities hockey mom in 2003

A reward of up to $12,500 is being offered in hopes of finding the driver who 17 years ago Thursday ran over and killed a Maple Grove hockey mom while she dropped off her son for a game.

Rebecca Nelson, 41, was found severely injured in the road at an intersection in front of the Maple Grove Community Center on the night of Feb. 20, 2003.

Nelson had just dropped her son off, parked her car in the overflow lot and begun walking toward the community center when she was hit. She was rushed to North Memorial Medical Center in Robbinsdale and died within minutes of internal injuries.

Witnesses told police she was hit by a dark-colored vehicle. The auto sat higher than a regular car but lower than an SUV, the witnesses said.

Police said in a statement released Thursday that they have investigated several possible leads "for 17 years and will continue to do so in hopes of providing closure for Rebecca's loved ones."

Over the years, police have put up posters around town and released media statements in an effort to keep the case in the public eye.

The reward money is being offered by Nelson's family and their friends, police said.

Freiberg, of Otsego, is a nurse in the birthing center at Maple Grove Hospital. She is raising children ages 4, 3 and 1 with her husband Dan, a Coon Rapids police officer.

She said her "beautiful little kids" never got to know their grandmother, "and they've been asking questions."

Younger brother Robby, who was 10 at the time their mother died, is working and living with their father in Monticello, she said.

"I'm just hoping [the driver] can see the benefit of coming forward so we can move on from all this," Freiberg said.

Anyone with information on the hit-and-run was asked to contact Maple Grove Police Detective Dominic Wareham at 763-494-6196.