The grief-stricken daughter of a 38-year-old Ottawa man who was killed after a weekend hit-and-run is making an emotional plea for the driver who killed her father to turn himself in.

"I just keep thinking this is a dream and I'm going to wake up and we're going to be together again," 17-year-old Christine Dacosta told CTV Ottawa as she fought back tears Thursday.

Her father, Mitchell Anderson, was critically injured when he was struck while crossing the road at Rideau Street and Colonel By Drive Sunday night. He died in hospital from his injuries two days later.

Dacosta says her dad battled alcoholism and spent the last years of his life living on the streets, leaving home when she was just eight years old.

"He had no dad to be there for him and his mom tried the best she could but he just got depressed and he thought alcohol was the only way out," Dacosta said.

Four years ago, the pair was reunited. The last time the teen saw her father was on the afternoon of the hit-and-run when the two spent the day watching movies.

"I remember him saying to me is have a good day at work and I said: 'I love you.' I gave him a hug and a kiss and he got off the bus and that was the last time I saw him."

Police on the hunt for driver of red sports car

Police say a red Mazda RX-8 sports car is suspected to be involved in the deadly hit-and-run that killed Dacosta's father.

Now, the Ontario Ministry of Transportation is stepping in to help police in their search for the driver involved in the incident.

Ministry of Transportation officials say in order to help police with their investigation, they will hand over information to investigators about the owners of all Mazda RX-8 vehicles registered in the Ottawa area.

Witnesses have described the driver of the sports car as a white male in his late 20s or early 30s. A passenger travelling in the car at the time of the collision is described as a white female with shoulder-length blond hair also in her late 20s or early 30s.

"I would like him to turn himself in," Dacosta told CTV Ottawa.

Victim remembered as 'good man'

Friends of Anderson's have also spoken out, asking that the driver and passenger thought to be involved in the incident come forward.

"Mitch was a human being. It really doesn't matter that he was an Aboriginal or that he was homeless. He was a human being and a son, a father, a brother," said Bruce Ramson, an Ottawa outreach worker who met Anderson three years ago.

"I'll always remember his smile. I don't ever recall Mitch being angry or vengeful - he was a good man."

Anderson's family is now preparing for their final goodbyes with plans to scatter his ashes on the river where he loved to spend his time. They've been told the costs of his funeral will be covered.

Anyone with information about the hit-and-run is asked to call Ottawa police at 613-236-1222 or Crime Stoppers at 613-233-TIPS.

With a report from CTV Ottawa's Aliya Jiwan and Kate Eggins