San Bruno B.A.R.T.

  MILLBRAE--Police have located a blue Jeep believed to have been involved in a hit-and-run accident that killed a Millbrae man this week, but there was no word as of late Thursday on whether they had arrested the driver.

  The owner of the Jeep brought the vehicle to a San Carlos body shop Thursday to have damage to the front end repaired, said Millbrae police Sgt. Ron Gleeson.

  "Evidently (the Jeep) was brought into a body shop in San Carlos, and the owner had seen the news coverage and called San Carlos police, who then notified us," he said.

  The unnamed owner told the body shop owner the damage was caused by his striking a deer, but evidence on the vehicle suggested otherwise, Gleeson said. The San Mateo County Crime Lab is processing the vehicle.

  Philip Michael Batlin, 30, was struck around 2 a.m. Wednesday while crossing El Camino Real near Linden and Millbrae avenues with his girlfriend, Rachel Warshauer. Batlin was taken by ambulance to San Francisco General Hospital, where he died from his injuries. Police determined the vehicle responsible was a Jeep Wrangler missing the driver's-side mirror and left-side hood latch and that it was navy blue, based on paint chips found at the accident scene.

  "We have a vehicle, we know who the registered owner is, and we will start that part of the process," Gleeson said. "Time is on our side now."

  Family members, who had been informed by police of the update in the case, remembered Batlin Thursday as gregarious and fun. They said he had finally met the girl of his dreams.

  The couple had been on their way home from a concert in San Francisco that morning and were holding hands when the accident occurred, according to Batlin's father, Mike Batlin, of Moraga.

  Raised in San Bruno, Philip Batlin graduated from Mills High School and attended Chico State University, where he earned a degree in restaurant and recreation management, his father said.

  "To know Phil was to love Phil," said Batlin's stepmother Judy, who remembers Batlin being a "Pied Piper" to small kids he met on camping trips. "Every single person who ever met Phil loved him."

  Growing up, he was a role-model to his siblings, Mindi, 28, Katie, 14, and Daniel, 18, who is following in his brother's footsteps by attending Chico State.

  "He left a positive impact on most people's lives. It's just mindless, completely inexplicable that this happened," said Mike Batlin. "All we ended up with was the loss of a beautiful son."

  A memorial service for Philip Batlin will be held at St. Monica's Catholic Church in Moraga at noon Tuesday. The church is located at 1001 Camino Pablo.