The Coroner´s Office has identified the third person killed in Tuesday´s head-on collision on Highway 108.
Tuolumne County Sheriff´s Lieutenant Roger Dittberner says 22 year old Omar Padilla was the driver of the Honda Accord that smashed into a Toyota Wagon. In addition to Padilla, the driver of the Toyota, 40 year old Twain Hart resident Christie Gean Cadona, and a passenger in the Toyota, 49 year old Big Hill resident Suzette Michelle Dupee, all died at the scene. The wreck shut the highway down for about two hours and the deaths of Cadona and Dupee sent shock waves throughout Tuolumne County. Dittberner says Padilla´s name wasn´t released until Thursday because authorities had trouble locating his relatives in Mexico. The speed limit is 55 miles-per-hour where the accident occurred . CHP investigators believe Padilla may have been speeding at the time of the crash. The lone survivor of the crash, Lisa Degitz, has undergone surgery at a Modesto Hospital and is in stable condition.
This post was last modified on 01/31/2009 2:25 pm