Livermore couple, children identified as Manteca crash victims
LIVERMORE, Calif. - The four victims killed in a fiery wreck in Manteca have been identified as a Livermore couple and two of their children.
The San Joaquin County Medical Examiner identified the victims as 40-year-old Liliana Guerrero Mendoza, 44-year-old Arriaga Bonifacio Negrete, 12-year-old Jorge Negrete Guerrero, and 4-month-old David Negrete Guerrero.
The family was driving through Manteca on Saturday at about 10 p.m. after attending a Quinceñeara in Modesto when the driver lost control of the Toyota minivan on Highway 120, overturned, and caught fire, according to a GoFundMe page.
The couple and five children were in the car.
Negrete, who is believed to have been driving the minivan, Mendoza, and their two sons all died in the crash. The couple's three other children survived and were taken to the hospital.
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Witnesses told KCRA3 that more than a dozen people stopped to help, and tried to turn the minivan over and get everyone out.
"We saw 15-to-20 people assisting, pushing the car up from its side to try to get it back on its wheels," Gina Rosamond told the news station.
Joe Rosamond, a pilot with the Army National Guard, ran towards the burning van. His wife took video of the scene.
"One of the guys there next to me said, 'Grab the baby,' He must have looked down and saw an arm," he said. "I kneeled down and tried to scoop up the baby as quickly and gently as I could."
He handed the baby off to his wife, Gina and ran back to help the other victims.
"I ran closer to our truck, away from the smoke and started chest compressions because the baby didn't have a pulse," she told KCRA3.
Gina Rosamond told KCRA3 it was amazing to see strangers work together to save the kids.
"I feel like everybody just fit in where they could," she said. "If that was my family in that car, I would hope all of these good citizens were there for me. It was very beautiful to see and touching."