Two drivers killed in a wrong-way freeway crash in South County were identified as an Imperial Beach high school student and a San Diego woman.
Ryder Shoup, 16, and Eileen Crawford, 67, both died in the fiery wreck early Wednesday morning.
The crash happened just after 3:20 a.m. on southbound Interstate 5 north of Palomar Street, the California Highway Patrol said.
A woman — later identified as Crawford — was spotted driving a Honda Civic headed north in the southbound lanes, CHP Officer Salvador Castro said. He said Thursday that the agency is still trying to determine where she entered the freeway.
At least one caller reported seeing an errant driver headed the wrong way on I-5 south, south of Camino De La Plaza. Investigators are still working to determine if the call was about Crawford and her Honda Civic.
Three minutes after that first call, the Civic collided with the Dodge Challenger that Ryder was driving south on the freeway.
The Dodge caught fire and was soon engulfed. Both drivers were trapped in their cars. Both died on the scene.
Ryder was a sophomore at Mar Vista High School, where he played football. He was also a lifeguard in the community, Mar Vista’s principal said in a letter to the school community. “He was a kind 10th grade student with a memorable smile,” the principal wrote.
A GoFundMe page set up to help his family states that the teenager was also a father to a son. The person who set up the fundraiser account — which reached about $20,000 as of Wednesday evening — also highlighted Ryder’s “infectious smile.”
“Ryder was the sweetest kid, and touched the lives of everyone who had the pleasure of knowing him,” the GoFundMe page states.
Crawford’s neighbor, Francisco Beltran, told NBC San Diego that Crawford had been receiving radiation treatments after she was diagnosed with cancer.
