STEPHANIE KLEIN-DAVIS The Roanoke Times

Jeffery Young (right) was acquitted Thursday of involuntary manslaughter in the death of Thomas Farrell. Young is scheduled to be tried on a charge of malicious wounding in Floyd County in October.

The police investigation into a fatal hit-and-run that killed a jogger in Roanoke County ended late Thursday night, when a jury acquitted a man who authorities still believe was responsible for the crime.

Lt. Chuck Mason of the Roanoke County Police Department said there are no plans to look for other suspects.

"In the end, all the available evidence we had pointed to him and no one else," Mason said of Jeffery Martin Young, a 31-year-old Floyd County man who was acquitted on charges of hit-and-run and involuntary manslaughter.

Police launched an exhaustive investigation after Thomas Farrell, a lawyer and avid jogger, was found lying dead along Springlawn Avenue shortly before dawn on Jan. 28, 2008.

Investigators never found an eyewitness to the incident. The search for forensic evidence -- such as the victim's blood or DNA on the Jeep Wrangler that Young was driving that morning, or debris from the Jeep at the scene -- proved equally elusive.

"Sometimes there just isn't useful evidence left behind," Mason said.

After nearly 10 months of police work, authorities decided they had enough evidence to seek charges. A grand jury indicted Young in October on charges of first-degree murder and leaving the scene of an accident.

But after prosecutors put on their evidence against Young this week, Judge William Alexander reduced the murder charge to involuntary manslaughter. By then, it was clear that the case was entirely circumstantial, made up mostly of multiple sightings of Young driving his Jeep in the neighborhood where Farrell was killed. Some witnesses recalled seeing heavy damage to the Jeep's front end shortly after Farrell's body was found -- damage that had not been there earlier.

A scientist testified for the prosecution that dents to Young's Jeep were consistent with Farrell's injuries, which included broken ribs and a skull fracture. A second expert witness called by the defense, however, disputed that theory.

After four days of testimony in Roanoke County Circuit Court, the jury began deliberations at 2 p.m. Thursday. After discussing the case over lunch, and later over dinner, the jury returned to the courtroom about 10 p.m. and told Alexander they were deadlocked, with no hope of reaching a verdict.

But the judge urged the jury to keep trying, stressing how expensive and time-consuming a second trial would be if he had to declare a mistrial. Forty-five minutes later, the jury returned a verdict of not guilty.

None of the jurors could be reached for comment Friday.

Grimes Creasy, one of Farrell's longtime friends, said Friday that he and many others are disappointed with the outcome of the case.

"We're all disappointed and miss Tom terribly," he said. "I think a lot of people went ahead and put two and two together and thought it was a slam-dunk."

He said he and others are not disappointed in the commonwealth attorney's office or the Roanoke County Police Department; they just don't understand how the case was lost.

"Now what they're left with is that the guy was either able to avoid it [a conviction], or there is someone else out there," he said.

Despite his acquittal, Young did not walk free Thursday.

He still faces a count of malicious wounding and other charges in Floyd County for an incident in a grocery store parking lot in which authorities say he struck a woman with his car, then attacked her with a stick. The incident happened just two days after Farrell was killed.

Young is scheduled for an Oct. 26 trial. Floyd County Commonwealth's Attorney Stephanie Shortt said that the outcome of the Roanoke County case will not affect her case.

Unlike the manslaughter case, the evidence against Young in Floyd County includes eyewitnesses and a victim who can testify in court.

Farrell's widow, Connie Farrell, left the courtroom abruptly Thursday night after the jury's verdict was announced. She could not be reached for comment Friday.

"This was an extremely difficult investigation because of the lack of direct evidence and eyewitnesses to Mr. Farrell's death," Mason said. "Despite that, investigators built a very strong case against this defendant. We would have never had charged him otherwise."