DE SOTO, Kan. -- While authorities continue to search for the driver involved in a fatal hit-and-run crash in Lenexa, Kan., Faye Bird said she remembers the 84-year-old victim who was struck and killed on Monday.

Police said Rita Huscher died after the minivan she was driving was hit along Kansas Highway 7 near 95th Street.

"She was just a kind-hearted, sweet person," said Bird. "She loved art."

Huscher was an art teacher and spent three days out of each week for the past three years in De Soto, Kan., teaching a variety of students in an art shack -- many of whom met the morning after the crash to grieve.

"We chose to meet here and talk about it, and I think it helped," said Margaret Johnston, the owner of the art shack. "We cried, of course."

Huscher's brushes, paint and canvasses leave behind images that provide a stark contrast to her mangled minivan and the wreck that took her life.

On Monday night, a tip lead police to a truck believed to be involved in the wreck. The driver of the other vehicle involved still has not been found.