John C. Caillouette just moved home to New Braunfels. Less than a year later, he was killed while doing what he loved.
NEW BRAUNFELS, Texas — He was killed doing what he loved.
John Carroll Caillouette, a New Braunfels native, moved back home less than a year ago to be closer to family. On Sunday, while leaving a friend’s house, he was hit while riding his bicycle and left to die.
To help solve this hit-and-run case, the Texas Department of Public Safety is calling on one group in particular to remain vigilant, asking all body shop owners and employees to keep a close eye on vehicles that come in. Front-end damage, authorities say, could lead to the suspects.
“This was supposed to be our time to be able to reconnect and have that opportunity. This person took it away,” said Caillouette’s niece, who wished to withhold her name.
52-year-old Caillouette was known as a free spirit. His family told us he was hit from behind while riding his bike.
“He has just wanted to explore the world… and he loved the outdoors. So he just took it on the road.”
His niece says John just moved home from New York.
He worked at a bike shop in Brooklyn while gaining experience in bicycle design, an experience which took him to places like Germany and Japan to learn from designers there.
“He traveled the world doing cyclists stuff, doing different competitions and races.”
John especially loved helping children of all abilities,” his niece said, “even helping build a playground area in Brooklyn.”
Driven by a creative mind, family members say John was renovating a school bus into an RV.
“He packed up all his stuff and that’s how he drove down here: in a school bus.”
But on Sunday, while riding his bike down Wegner Road near Lost Trail, John was hit and later found by another driver.
“It’s off Purgatory Road,” said John’s niece. “It’s more of like your country-roads-type thing. It’s not very well-lit. He had lights all over his bike. He did everything he could to stay safe.”
A cross now sits at the spot where John died. A Christmas wreath and an angel adorn it in his memory.
Relatives urge those responsible to have a heart and come forward.
“What kind of human leaves another human on the side of the road? It’s unfathomable,” said John’s niece. “Let my grandmother have the closure that she needs, because no mother should have to bury their child.”
Family members started a GoFundMe page to help pay for funeral expenses. If you have any information on this case, call the Comal County Sheriff’s Office at (830) 620-3400.
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