A man, his wife and their five-year-old son have died in a horrific car crash on a Tennessee highway.
Santos Morales, his wife Magdalena and their son Santos Ennrique, who had just graduated from kindergarten, were returning from a trip to Louisville, Kentucky, when a wrong-way driver hit their Subaru head-on.
Arely Cruz Morales, the family’s niece, said she can’t believe three members of her family were taken from her in an instant. WMC.
“The day of the accident, they came back to Memphis, but they didn’t get a chance to get to their house before the accident happened,” Cruz Morales said.
She said her uncle had just started a new job in Louisville. The family drove back to Memphis to complete their move and obtain a new passport for their five-year-old son, Santos Enrique.
Santos Morales (right), his wife Magdalena (left) and their son Santos Ennrique (center), who had just graduated from kindergarten, were returning from a trip to Louisville, Kentucky, when a wrong-way driver hit their Subaru head-on. .
The family drove back to Memphis to complete their move and obtain a new passport for their son, as the father had just started a new job in Louisville.
Cruz Morales said the family also planned to go on vacation this summer.
Memphis police reported a devastating head-on collision on westbound I-240 early Wednesday morning.
A driver in a Dodge Durango was traveling eastbound in the westbound lanes and struck Morales’ Subaru.
The impact tragically claimed the lives of all occupants of both vehicles.
‘It’s quite difficult to process everything at once. Because it’s not just one person, it’s three,” Cruz Morales said.
“We had more heartbreak when it came to his son. Because he was so young.’
She added that her uncle was a family man, always put his wife and children first, and maintained a positive, motivational attitude.
‘My uncle and his wife were always the ones who encouraged and motivated us.
“Our inspiration to keep going, to be the best person to keep going,” Cruz Morales said.
She said as her family tries to move forward, they now face the challenge of getting all three bodies to Mexico for a funeral ceremony.
“It complicates some things to bring them back home and ship their bodies to get the proper burial where our family is,” Cruz Morales said.
The impact tragically claimed the lives of all occupants of both vehicles
The family was returning from a trip to Louisville, Kentucky, on May 29 when they were struck by the driver going the wrong way on the highway.
The grieving niece said her family wants to remember her uncle, aunt and cousin as they were before they tragically died.
“And as close as we were to him, it’s a hole that’s gone now,” she said. “But we know we have the good memories, the laughter, the photos and the videos to look back on always.”
Cruz said her family is working to quickly finalize funeral arrangements due to the injuries her family members suffered in the accident.
She has a GoFundMe to assist with funeral costs.