Sister, 29, killed in motorcycle crash near Tiburon after watching movie with siblings

A Marin County family is in mourning after a motorcycle crash killed a 29-year-old woman, who had been riding alongside her brother after catching a movie with her siblings.

Marie Noelle Siegenthaler died at the scene of the accident Monday night just after 10 p.m. 

The California Highway Patrol is hunting for the hit-and-run driver who struck her, and kept going on U.S. Highway 101 southbound near the Tiburon exit. 

"One of her brothers had come up from college, so they went out to the movies and from there she went home," father Mark Siegenthaler told KTVU at the Fairfax home where Marie Siegenthaler was raised. 

He showed a college graduation photo of the petite, dark-haired woman.

Monday evening, Marie Siegenthaler had been out for a movie with her sister and two brothers.  

"They were close, pretty close family, " said their father sadly, " and she's been living with her brother now for about seven years in San Francisco." 
Marie Siegenthaler was headed back to the city after the movie when she was hit and thrown from her motorcycle.

Her brother, riding ahead of her, realized he didn't see her anymore and circled back to find the fatal crash.        

"He recognized her motorcycle," said Mark Siegenthaler, describing how the family rushed to the scene. 

Investigators, picking through the crash debris, have narrowed their search to a late 90's to early 2000's Chevy Silverado truck or a Chevy Tahoe SUV, also early to mid- 2000's. 
The vehicle would have front end damage. 

"The passenger side front would be missing its side turn signal and daytime running light as well as part of its fender," said Ofc. Andrew Barclay of the Marin CHP office. 

At night, with light traffic, and high speeds, Marie Siegenthaler was down on the freeway less than a minute before she was struck again - by a Volkswagon SUV. That driver stopped, and so did others who wanted to help.

"There were numerous people who stopped and tried to assist," said Barclay, "but unfortunately with traffic conditions they couldn't safely get out there."

At the Good Earth Market in Mill Valley, news of Marie Siegenthaler's death hit hard. 
She was the buyer for the body care department, and the store owner remembers hiring her as a teenager for his Fairfax store. 

"We watched a little girl grow up and take on life challenges, and she loved to travel," recalled owner Al Baylacq.
"I've known her since she was a baby because her dad used to work for us. We watched her grow up, so this is hard to accept."   

Tributes to Marie Siegenthaler are posted on store bulletin boards.
Baylacq says she was known for her knowledge and passion for health and nutrition. 
He described her as independent, artistic, and quiet.  

"She wasn't the most outgoing but when you did get the chance to connect with her, she was really there, and you really appreciated it," said Baylacq.

Among colleagues, Baylacq says, there is outrage that whoever hit Siegenthaler kept on going. 

"For somebody not to stop, that's wrong, and it really affects this whole tragedy."

Early in the investigation, CHP said a silver Toyota Prius may have been involved, but that driver came forward Tuesday evening and was cleared of involvement. 

Investigators now believe the Chevy vehicle is the only one implicated in Marie Siegenthaler death.