Mother, daughter killed in Santa Rosa crash were out running errand

SANTA ROSA, Calif. - Alondra Bandt, 21 and her mother Tomasa were braving the morning rain Monday on Highway 12. They had left their Sonoma home and were heading to the Santa Rosa DMV to register their Nissan.

But they never made it.

"They were both beautiful souls," said Ilse Perez-Bandt, Alondra's cousin.

Perez-Bandt says her uncle got a knock at his door and then called her mom, "just screaming, saying you know, 'They crashed, they crashed.'"

California Highway Patrol says Alondra was driving west on the highway near Oakmont Drive in Santa Rosa when she lost control in a curved part of the road. The Nissan crossed into the path of a Chevy truck.

Alondra and her 44-year-old mother died at the scene.

"I really hope they weren't in pain, you know?" Perez-Bandt said. "Just seeing pictures of how the car was literally just breaks my heart."

She says her cousin had hoped to live abroad.

"She would always talk about moving to Spain," said Perez-Bandt. "That was one of her dreams."

Now, those plans are no more, with a family now mourning two loved ones.

"It just hurts me," said Perez-Bandt, wiping her eyes. "She was so young and she had a lot of future ahead of her."

But Perez-Bandt said she finds some comfort recalling happier times, when the cousins played as kids. She said she will always remember Alondra's boundless spirit.

"Alondra would always be smiling. You know, she always had that beautiful Colgate smile," she said.

Tomasa worked at a market and leaves behind her younger son and daughter, who are now with their father.

"She was super sweet to everyone and she had a lot of friends. She was very friendly," Perez-Bandt said of her aunt.