BATTLE GROUND, Wash. (KOIN) — Nearly six years have passed since the body of Tatyana Tupikova was discovered along State Highway 503 — just two days after she was reported missing.
On May 9, 2012, Tatyana walked to the Battle Ground Cinema to see the recently released “Avengers” by herself, stopping at a store for some candy beforehand.
Security video at the theater showed her coming and going safely.
However, her family became concerned when she didn’t return home afterward as planned — prompting them to report Tatyana as a missing person.
Two days later, her body was found along SR-503 between Eaton Boulevard and Main Street, about a quarter mile north of the theater. Authorities determined Tatyana had been hit by a vehicle and the suspect or suspects fled the scene.
Tatyana was just shy of her 23rd birthday when she was killed. Her death deeply impacted both her family and the community of Battle Ground. There’s now a memorial sign with flowers that marks the spot where she was hit and killed.
Tatyana’s close friend — Chrystal Horal — said whenever the anniversary passes, she misses her friend all over again.
“She was an amazing person and is loved and missed by so many people,” Horal told KOIN 6 News.
Horal said they were supposed to meet up that night, but their plans changed.
“I was super pregnant, it was really hot that day,” Horal said. “We decided we weren’t going to do it, if I wasn’t going to do it, she wasn’t going to do it.”
The Clark County Sheriff’s Office hopes that anyone who was in the area may have observed a car or person that looked suspicious or out of place and can help piece together what happened to Tatyana.
“She’s a true victim,” Detective Joe Swenson said. “That’s the worst part about this case. She had nothing to do with anything. She was minding her own business and she was hit and left in a ditch.”
Horal hopes someone will come forward to help solve the mystery of her friend’s death — something she said Tatyana deserves.
“When you lose somebody that fast, that’s yanked from your life, and you don’t have any closure, you can’t get over it,” Horal said. “It’s always there.