Five young friends heading on a girls’ trip were killed when a truck slammed head-on into their car, which flipped over and burst into flames just 20 minutes from their destination.
The five women, all in their 20s, were traveling from Dallas to a lake house in central Texas on Friday, July 25, when a truck pulling a horse trailer veered into oncoming traffic and struck multiple vehicles, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.
The women’s Mercedes SUV flipped over on impact, killing everyone inside as it burst into flames, police said. The truck driver — identified as Kody Talley — fled, but has since been charged with five counts of manslaughter.
The five killed were longtime best friends Thalia Salinas, Ruby Cruz, Brianna Valadez, Desiree Cervantez and Jacqueline Velazco.
Salinas was behind the wheel, and was taking her friends on a lakefront vacation to celebrate her 23rd birthday, where her family was planning to meet them.
“Words can’t describe how devastated we are,” Salinas’ family told CBS NewsTexas.
“We were en route to celebrate Thalia’s birthday in Kingsland, Texas, at her favorite place — on the lake — with all her favorite people. Then we got news of the girls’ passing away in the worst accident we could ever imagine.
“We will never recover from losing Thalia, Brianna, Ruby, Jackie and Desi,” Salinas’ family said, describing the women as like sisters who had been best friends since middle school..
Drivers of the other vehicles that were hit survived with only minor injuries, police said.
Talley’s truck later crashed into the fence, where he ditched it and left the scene, according to officials. He was not tested for drugs or alcohol the day of the crash.
Talley was arrested on Tuesday and charged with five counts of manslaughter
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