Utah family identified in deadly California crash

Published: Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2007 2:16 p.m. MDT
 |  E-MAIL | PRINT | FONT + - 
The Sacramento County Coroner's Office has identified a Utah family killed during a trip through California.

Omar Sanchez, 22, of Riverdale, was killed early Sunday morning when the pickup he was driving lost control on I-80 and was broadsided by a truck.

The crash happened around 6:40 a.m. Sunday on the Bryte Bend Bridge above the Sacramento River. The California Highway Patrol said a 2006 Nissan Frontier was towing a Corvette on a trailer when it lost control and jackknifed.

The pickup hit the north side of the bridge and was struck from behind by a box truck.

Sanchez, who was driving the vehicle, was killed instantly. So was his 22-year-old wife, Dulce, who was riding in the back seat. Their children — 3-year-old Destiny Cornejo and 13-day-old Sadie Sanchez — were taken to a local hospital, where they died.

"It's unknown if it was speed, if maybe the driver was starting to fall asleep and just started to doze, or if maybe his load was just too heavy for his vehicle," CHP officer Lizz Dutton told CBS13 in Sacramento.

The TV station broadcast images showing CHP officers removing an infant carrier from the wreckage of the pickup. CHP officers said the children were not secured in car seats when the crash occurred.

Story continues below

The driver and the passenger in the box truck were not injured.

Media reports in Sacramento said the family was visiting other family members in Woodland, Calif., and were on their way back to Utah when they died.


Contributing: Associated Press

E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com

Recent comments

I know the sister of Dulce, and they were notified quickly of this...

HWB | Oct. 9, 2007 at 10:54 p.m.

The first story said they would not release names until the families...

Read and think | Oct. 9, 2007 at 6:18 p.m.

and to "to names of family writer"

You made the same logic error...

Anonymous | Oct. 9, 2007 at 6:16 p.m.

previousnext

Latest comments

Mormon myths mostly harmless but unnecessary

"U of U Student | 11:24 a.m. July 10, 2009 How about this current modern...

Farming for the needy

This was a very accurate article. We ought to know. Credit was fairly given...

Stop celebrity coverage

It's NOT about what the people want, it's about what makes the media money.

The whole business of retiring a flag by burning it is superstitiousness at...

Wow, does this seem like 'deja vu' when the Jazz pulled the same thing to get...

Obama controls all

People living OUTSIDE of the US have NO protection of the constitution, ...

is dollar for dollar.

Everybody keeps saying Millsap is or isn't worth 8 to 9 million dollars a...

Not to worry, before the hammer falls on CA the federal government will bail...

Granite High was not only a school but it was a home away from home. ...

Advertisements