Hit-run leaves big gap in family

By SAUNDRA AMRHEIN
Published June 26, 2007

RUSKIN - Cesar Cordero Gonzalez gathered his friends and family at his house.

On Sunday afternoon he lined the back wall of his nicely furnished mobile home with chairs in front of the television.

Cordero, 37, and the crowd cheered as Mexico took an early 1-0 lead against the United States in the Gold Cup soccer championship. The game was a reminder of home, a place he hadn't seen in three years, since crossing the border to find work in construction.

As family and friends milled around talking or spilled outside after the U.S. victory, Cordero climbed on his bicycle. About 6 p.m., his family says, he set out to buy more beer at a convenience store on U.S. 41.

He must have been on his way home pedaling south along Seventh Street SW when the van hit him, his family said.

A white van going north struck and killed Cordero on Seventh at Castillo Road and kept going, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said.

The office described the vehicle as a white Ford work van and said Cordero was thrown onto the shoulder of the road. He died at the scene.

The Sheriff's Office said the wreck occurred just before 11 p.m. But family members said neighbors ran back to Cordero's home on Ocean Mist Court with news of the crash about 8 p.m.

His wife, family and friends sat in his living room Monday, still in shock.

He sent money back to his mother and his wife and their three children until he could afford to pay someone to bring his wife and their youngest across the border.

She arrived with their 7-year-old son five months ago, said his wife, Ema Alvarado Canto. Their oldest children, ages 15 and 13, are in Mexico with her brother.

Now the family is trying to raise more than $3, 000 to fly Cordero's body back to Mexico.

As an undocumented immigrant, Cordero's wife can't accompany his body even if she had the money. Alone and responsible for three children in two countries, she's unsure of her next step.

"I don't know what to do, stay or go back, " she said.

Saundra Amrhein can be reached at amrhein@sptimes.com or 813 661-2441.

To help

Anyone with information about the hit and run was asked to call the Sheriff's Office at (813) 247-8200 or CrimeStoppers at (800) 873-8477.

[Last modified June 25, 2007, 23:31:24]