Family of trucker seeking justice after motorist who caused wreck fled scene over a year ago

The family of a truck driver killed in a wreck caused by a motorist is seeking answers over a year after the fatal accident. 

The accident occurred on November 19th, 2023 on Interstate 95 in Essex County, Virginia. 31-year-old truck driver Trenton Schnackenberg was driving on I-95 when an Infiniti merged into his lane, striking his tractor trailer on the front right side. The truck then crashed into a bridge overpass support, killing Trenton. 

“It ripped the entire truck open,” said Rebecca Fisher, Trenton’s aunt, to 6 News Richmond. “The trailer opened. The FedEx trailer got ripped wide open.”

“When there is a truck accident with a semi-truck, they always want to blame the truck driver, and there was a lot of that on social media,” Fisher continued. “That was really difficult… It was a semi-truck. How do you not see a semi-truck in the lane next to you? What was going on?” 

The driver of the Infiniti received medical treatment at the scene and gave his information for a crash report, but eventually fled, leaving Trenton’s family without answers or justice for the fatal crash. 

“How would it take over a year to track somebody down for this when you had their name and address from the beginning?” Fisher asked. “It’s very frustrating and disheartening, and it’s hard.”

“All the time I wonder why they didn’t stop him,” Fisher continued. “I don’t feel like this is a criminal mastermind. I feel like he should be leaving some kind of trail.”

“There is some reason that they haven’t got him, and I’d hate to think they’re just not capable of finding him,” Dwayne, Trenton’s grandpa, said of the situation.“I want him to at least know that he didn’t get away with it.”

“Nothing is going to bring Trenton back, and I know that,” Fisher said. “But I do want justice for him at the very least because he shouldn’t be gone.”

“I miss him so much,” his fiancé Brandi Roland told WUSA9. “He was on the road a lot. This man was addicted to his job. He loved, loved what he did.”

Trenton’s family says that Virginia State Police never released the suspect’s name or picture and has not asked the public for help in locating them. Matthew Demlein, the Interim Public Relations Director for the Virginia State Police, says that VSP is still trying to locate the suspect and has released all of the information that can. The case is still an open and active investigation.