Junior, on Year off, Dies In Hit-and-Run Accident

A Harvard junior, who had taken the year off to work and study in Michigan, this weekend was struck and killed by an oncoming car 20 miles outside of Toronto, Canada, according to local police.

Michael Kaplan '89, of Farmington Hills. Michigan, was found dead along a highway at 4:30 a.m. Saturday, said Ontario Provincial Police officer Darleen Gunby. The body of Elizabeth Wood, 18, who was walking with Kaplan, was also found dead. A third traveller, Lisa Church. 18, escaped unharmed.

The three students were returning to their car, which had run out of gas on Canada's Highway 401 near the town of Milton. According to police accounts, the students thought they were walking on the shoulder of the highway but were actually on the road.

As they walked towards their car, the three were hit from behind by an Oldsmobile Cutlass. The car's driver left the scene initially, police said, but later turned himself in. The case is currently being investigated by the Ontario police, Gunby said.

Kaplan, who lived in Lowell House, was spending his junior year in Michigan, where he worked in a Detroit psychology research lab. As a Harvard freshman, Kaplan lived in Thayer North.

According to Kaplan's high school friend Scott Berk, the Harvard junior hadrecently applied to transfer to the University ofMichigan, and was accepted only two days beforethe accident.

Berk said that Kaplan liked to drive and wouldoccassionally make the six-hour trek from AnnArbor to Toronto. The two women who rode withKaplan to Toronto were going to share a room withhim at the University of Michigan.

"He was just somebody who had millions offriends, and he liked to drive to visit hisfriends." Berk said. "His central interest was hisfriends."

Kaplan was a computer enthusiast at his highschool, the Cranbrook School, friends said.

This year, Kaplan worked in the LafayetteLaboratory, where he helped a team researchingTourette's Syndrome. Kaplan was interested in thedisorder because a family member had suffered fromit, said lab Director Dr. Peter Lewitt.

"He was very vivacious, we liked him a greatdeal--he had a lot of wit about him," said Lewitt."The fact that he could combine playfulness withhis work at the lab made him a valuable part ofthe team."

Kaplan was very interested in the research andwould compose haikus and puns in the course ofconducting correspondence for the lab. Lewittsaid.

A memorial service will be held for Kaplan inthe Lowell House Junior Common Room this Saturdayat noon