It was not like Randy Hammer to miss work.
He was never late for his shift at Cori's DogHouse in Mt. Juliet. If something was wrong, there was always a phone call to his boss.
Saturday morning, Hammer didn't show up to work.
"I called him around 10, after 11 wondering where he was," Sully Sullivan said. "I thought he slept late or something like that. It was unusual for him to not be here."
Unfortunately, Saturday morning was the beginning of a nightmare for Sullivan and the rest of the employees at the hot dog shop. The last time anyone saw Hammer alive was Friday night, as he was leaving work.
Throughout the weekend, friends and co-workers searched for him. They heard he was walking from Mt. Juliet to Lebanon to visit his girlfriend.
"As the day went on, we all got more worried and worried," Sullivan said.
Hammer couldn't afford a car and did not have a driver's license, so walking to his girlfriend's house was the only option.
Monday, Sullivan's nightmare had an even more tragic ending when a TDOT worker discovered Hammer's body on the side of Interstate 40 near Mt. Juliet.
"We did get positive identification, but we knew, we knew," Sullivan said. " We knew what happened from the get go."
As the word spread throughout the small business, Sullivan said he struggled to balance the role of a boss with the role of a friend. He worked to console his employees, while being focused on running the store.
"It's very hard to juggle everything all at the same time," he said. "Do I close up? Do I figure out what's going on?"
The Tennessee Highway Patrol said they have been investigating the incident as a hit-and-run. Authorities have interviewed the driver, but a spokesperson told NewsChannel 5 Wednesday no charges had been filed.
Friends of Hammer's have created a gofundme page to help with funeral expenses. To view that page, click here.
