Recently, my parents had an accident with a hit-and-run driver.  The
other driver was clearly at fault, having lane-changed into the
right-hand lane without signalling just as my parents were pulling out
of a parking lot.  (I was in the back seat and saw the whole thing.) 
The other party didn't even stop (though someone jumped out at a
traffic light up the street to inspect the damage to their vehicle). 
It wasn't serious; nobody was injured, and it resulted in some body
damage that their insurance will cover, albeit with a $250 deductable.

My parents got their license number, and turned it in to the police
with an accident report.  They recently emailed me the results:

"The police left a message that they found out who hit us, but everyone
tells them that he has left town, possibly for K.C. or some rehab
center.  Anyhow, he said that all they have found are dead ends, that the
guy is apparently a 'house jumper.'  Case now inactive pending further
information or evidence."

I'm looking for advice on what my parents can do (in terms of legal
procedures, etc.) to get that money back, or, failing that, cause $250
worth of trouble for the hit-and-runner.  It can't involve throwing
too much more good money after bad, and it has to be practical. 
(Travelling a zillion miles to wherever the hit-and-runners are now in
order to file a claim in small claims court would be impractical.)

What I would do is file your claim from your insurance company. It
will go down as a NOT AT FAULT accident, so chances are your premiums
will not go up that much if any. Next I believe there is a way to file
for an accident compensation, you would need to speak to a lawyer
briefly about that to get the exact details.

Hope that helps!

I'd talk to the DMV and see if you can "mess" with his Drivers License.

Your question reminds me of that old saying, "I can do it fast.  I can
do it well.  I can do it cheap.  Pick two."

Practicality and frugality are admirable goals, but I do not think you
can exact retribution by being either practical or frugal.  This guy
has learned how to beat the system, and the only way to "get him" is
to play the system better than he does.  Unfortunately that will
require time and effort.

Since you have his license plate number, you can find out his identity
and last known address by filing a request and paying a fee with the
state DMV that issued the license plates.  Once you have that
information (assuming the police did not provide it), you can sue that
person in the county where the accident occurred.  You may have to
serve him by publication since it may be difficult to find him.  Then,
since he will not appear for the hearing, you can obtain a default
judgment against him.  You will then need to record that judgment in
all counties in which you think this guy may own any real property
(the Internet provides a number of search services to assist with
locating real property owned by an individual--try intellius.com)
because the judgment acts as a lien.  You may have to record the
judgment in various counties around the country (and that requires
some use of attorneys in those other jurisdictions, unless you want to
go to those counties and record the judgment yourself).  if you can
find out where he works, you can also take the judgment, get a writ of
execution and send a garnishment order to wherever he works and they
will have to dock his pay to pay you.  If you can find out where he
lives, the same writ of execution will empower the sheriff in that
county to go and take away his personal property (including the car!)
and sell it to satisfy the judgment.

See what I mean?  There's a lot of stuff you can do, but it's not fast
or cheap . . .

Good luck as you pursue this lowlife.