The community of Parlier is grieving the loss of five family members and praying for the sole survivor’s recovery.
Just over a week ago, the Ochoa-Saldana family, who once lived in Parlier and Fresno, was on their way home from a visit to their hometown in Michoacan.
They were two hours away from their current home in Bend, Oregon, when they crashed on the slippery highway.
Police say the driver, 39-year-old Juan Ochoa, veered into oncoming traffic.
Juan, his wife Eva, their two teenage kids, and their youngest, a one-year-old, died at the scene.
Their 11-year-old daughter is the only one who survived and is now in critical condition.
“It’s really sad, to see a whole family just pass away in seconds, it’s really bad,” expresses Alvina Talavera, a family friend of the crash victims.
Alvina has known the family for over twenty years.
They are from the same small town in Mexico.
Alvina describes the family as tight-knit, faith-based and never forgetting their roots.
“They were really united. Just to travel, all of them, all together, you can see the family was really humble, caring, responsible, hard-working,” mentioned Alvina.