2003 — Jan 2, pickup of illegals on I-80 crashes into tractor trailer near Menlo, IA — 9

— 9  AP. “Probe unable to determine cause…crash…” Gazette, Cedar Rapids, IA, 3-14-2003, 7B.

— 9  Strickland and Gold. “17 Found Dead at Texas Truck Stop.” Los Angeles Times, 5-14-2003.

 

Narrative Information

 

Mar 14:  “Des Moines (AP) – An investigation failed to determine why the driver of a pickup lost control on Interstate 80 and crashed head-on into a semi-trailer truck, killing nine illegal immigrants, the Iowa State Patrol said Thursday. “That’s the best we can do. He did lose control, but we don’t know why,” said Sgt. Randy Bulver, whose office investigated the Jan. 2 accident near Menlo.

 

“Six men and three women riding in the pickup died when it crossed the median and slammed into the semi about 2:30 a.m. Federal immigration officials who assisted in the investigation said all nine people probably were in the country illegally. ‘From what we gathered and what we were able to ascertain, indications were all the people were illegal,’ said Alonzo Martinez, a district director for the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is now part of the Department of Homeland Security. ‘There were no survivors and we weren’t able to interview anyone involved.’ All nine victims were thrown from the truck. One of the bodies remained in the bed of the pickup, which was torn from the cab… The semi jackknifed and came to rest on the shoulder. Then, a Greyhound bus came through and struck the bed of the pickup, pushing it into the median. “The conclusion of it was the driver of vehicle 1 (the pickup) failed to have control,” Bulver said. It took officials five days to identify the victims:

 

Oscar Guzman Castillo, 29, and

Gabriel Perez Guzman, 22, cousins from Puebla, Mexico;

Jose Antonio Corona Balcazar, 24, and his wife,

Cristel Rodriguez-Garcia, 21, both of Mexico City;

Lucio Bautista-Tadeo, 21, and his wife,

Patricia Bircio Dorantes, 20, both of Acapulco;

Guillermo Paredes Villanueva, 21, of Acapulco;

Cristina Ramos Villanueva, 46, of Taxco, Mexico; and

Hector Alfonso Crisanto-Sanchez, 18, of Mexico.

 

“Authorities said they suspected it could have been a smuggling operation.” (AP. “Probe unable to determine cause of fatal crash on I-80.” The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, IA, 3-14-2003, 7B.)

 

Sources

 

Associated Press. “Probe unable to determine cause of fatal crash on I-80.” The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, IA, 3-14-2003, 7B. At: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=154584017&sterm

 

Strickland, Daryl and Scott Gold. “17 Found Dead at Texas Truck Stop.” Los Angeles Times, 5-14-2003. Accessed at: http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/immigration/immigrants-dead.htm