Detectives are investigating a hit-and-run accident in Central Whidbey that left a pedestrian dead at around midnight Wednesday, according to the Island County Sheriff’s Office.

The name of the pedestrian, a 66-year-old Whidbey man, has not been released pending notification of the man’s family. A passerby saw the body on Highway 20 just south of the intersection with Main Street in Coupeville and called 911.

The crash marks the fourth fatality and second hit-and-run pedestrian-related fatality on Whidbey Island in less than a month. In fact, Sheriff Rick Felici said never before in his 36 years of law enforcement experience on the island had he heard of a fatal accident happening during the day and another that night.

“Now it’s happened twice,” he said.

On March 29, Scott Severson was killed in a hit-and-run pedestrian accident in Freeland. Severson was walking on Lancaster Road when he was killed. Later, the sheriff’s office reported that Freeland resident Michael Taylor was booked and released on suspicion of violating a state law related to hit-and-run crashes.

Investigators are awaiting test results in the case, according to the sheriff’s office.

Also on March 29, a motorcyclist was killed in a three-vehicle accident on Highway 20 near the intersection with Libbey Road. The State Patrol later identified the man as David M. Burk, a 37-year-old Oak Harbor resident and active duty member of the Navy.

Then two people were killed in separate accidents on April 24. In the late afternoon, 16-year-old Tara Halterman, a 10th grader in Coupeville, died in a rollover accident. At around midnight, the pedestrian was killed on Highway 20.