Three young men are dead - after the car they were in plunged off a one lane bridge on the San Antonio Road in Orange Walk.
It happened on Saturday night at around 8:00. 27 year old driver Oscar Portillo, and passengers, 28 year old Kelvin Augustine and 21 year old Efrain Martinez were headed to Botes, Mexico. That meant taking the San Antonio Road all the way to Santa Cruz, which is the last village on the banks of the Rio Hondo. From there they would have crossed over to Botes, presumably for a night of partying. But they never made it - instead they wound up submerged in the river - dead either from drowning or the massive impact.
Villagers pulled their bodies from the wreckage and tried to perform CPR but it was too late.
It's an enormous tragedy that has left three families devastated. We spoke to two of those families today.
Portillo's girlfriend of two years, Myra Trapp was at mass near their home in Los Lagos, and had no idea that he was heading to Botes:...
Myra Trapp Escobar, Oscar Portillo's Girlfriend
"Apparently he said the vehicle went off the bridge and fell into the river. He asks how did that happened? He said If I knew he was here. I said no. I know that during the day he was in Belize City and he says, no Miss Myra, he was here and 3 of the guys are dead. He said that police call him and he went to identify them and he knows one of them is Oscar. When he says it was Oscar, my mind just went. It was sad for me."
Reporter
"Do you know he was out that side?"
Myra Trapp Escobar
"No. I don't have any idea where he was at the time."
Reporter
"Now we know that road is the road to Santa Cruz and from Santa Cruz, they only thing you do is go to Botes. Did you know that he was going to Botes?"
Myra Trapp Escobar
"No."
Reporter
"Have you since learned that, however, that he was going to Botes?"
Myra Trapp Escobar
"Yes, from when they call me and told me that he was on his way to Botes, but ne never made it. I was not expecting to get news like that."
Reporter
"You didnt even know he was on the road?"
Myra Trapp Escobar
"No. I dont have no idea at the time. My thinking was that when I reach back home I will find the vehicle parked in the yard and he inside sleeping. But it was just ugly news I got. I didnt expect that day to get bad news that he died."
And while Myra Trapp tries to withstand the waves of grief, she says it is a cautionary tale for all those who like to party hard and drive hard:…
Myra Trapp Escobar, Oscar Portillo's Girlfriend
"Love yourself first, because it's good to love yourself. When you love yourself you say I love myself and yes I want to take my drink, but I will just take 2-3 and after that I want to go home and relax. that's all I want and think about your wife and kids and your love ones that you will left suffering. That's my point."
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