Angelica Dhondup, 26, was still wearing the purple dress she had chosen for her reception when she was hit by a drunk driver driving the wrong direction on a Utah freeway. Dhondup had given presents and was on his way back to the reception
A new bride was killed just hours after making her vows when an allegedly drunk driver who was driving the wrong way on a Salt Lake City freeway on Friday rammed into the mother of three.
Angelica Dhondup, 26, was still wearing the purple dress she had chosen for her reception when she was hit by Manaure Gonzalez-Rea, 36, on Interstate 15 near 1700 South, police said.
She drove her Toyota Corolla back to her reception after going home to drop off gifts.
Dhondup’s 20-year-old cousin was in the passenger seat at the time of the accident but was recovering from her injuries and was discharged from hospital on Saturday. It is unclear whether the women were buckled up.
The bride called her sister one last time after the accident at around 1 a.m.
“She called her and told her she was in a wreck and was badly injured and she can’t breathe,” said Dhondup’s best friend, Tyler Craft.
Dhondup was driving her 20-year-old cousin, who suffered minor injuries and was discharged from hospital on Saturday. It is unclear whether the women were buckled up
Dhondup, pictured with her unknown new husband (right), had married her high school mistress just hours before the accident. Today he is a single father of three children
Gonzalez-Rea was driving his Tacoma truck south in the north lanes when he collided in Dhondup.
He was helped out of his truck by a witness who put him in his own truck, but Gonzales-Rea then stole the witness’s vehicle and fled the scene.
Police caught up with him about 15 miles away near the Redwood Road exit of Interstate 80.
According to the police report, he had “an overwhelming smell of alcoholic drink from his breath in the open air”.
Gonzales-Rea was detained at the Salt Lake County Jail on Friday on charges of caricide, theft, neglect in a fatal accident, alcoholic driving and reckless driving.
A passenger traveling with Gonzales-Rea later returned to the crime scene.
Gonzales-Rea was helped out of his overturned vehicle by a passerby. Then he stole the Good Samaritan truck and fled the scene
The wedding had been celebrated just hours before the accident and Dhondup’s bridesmaids had been wearing purple dresses. Purple was Dhondup’s favorite color. Her family held a vigil on Saturday and released purple balloons in the sky
A GoFundMe page was set up by the family to help cover funeral expenses and $ 12,349 was raised from the $ 35,000 goal
Dhondup had long dreamed of her wedding to her high school sweetheart, but now she will never get a chance to go on her honeymoon or go back to her three children.
“She was about to hand in her wedding gifts and was on her way back to the party. It wasn’t even a mile away. ‘
“You had to tell her ‘I Dos’, but you couldn’t go on for anything else”
“They had planned a whole life together and he just broke it off,” Craft told KSL.
Dhondup family members held a vigil on Saturday night, and balloons of her favorite color, purple, were released into the sky in her honor.
Manaure Gonzales-Rea, 36, fled the scene and was later arrested. According to one report, he had “an overwhelming smell of alcoholic drink from his breath in an open air setting”.
Her bridesmaids wore purple dresses to their wedding.
Relatives and friends are now asking drivers to be careful and not drive under the influence of drugs, as they have had to say goodbye to their loved one forever.
According to the latest report from the Utah Department of Public Safety, there were 1,970 alcohol-related driver accidents in Utah in 2016, in which 1,220 people were injured and 36 were killed.
The family set up a GoFundMe page to help cover funeral expenses, raising $ 12,349 of the $ 35,000 goal.
