There is a growing memorial in Framingham, Massachusetts, where a vehicle overturned into a pond on Sunday, killing two people.
Around 4 a.m., 21-year-old Brian Archila, his sister 25-year-old Jennifer Archila, and Brian's girlfriend, 21-year-old Lilibeth Vasquez, were returning home from Hudson, Massachusetts, when Jennifer lost control of the car on Gates Road, sending it into a pond near the Framingham Country Club.
Firefighters say Brian escaped the car and tried to free his sister and girlfriend.
"He was going to attempt to go down and open up the door," began Framingham Fire Captain Mark Leporati. "He went and never came back."
Firefighters also say the water overtook his sister.
"She was unable to even undo her seatbelt, so that's how we found her," Leoprati explained.
Because of an air pocket, Lilibeth managed to survive in the submerged car for two and half hours.
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"So she spent the rest of the time in the car, alone in the dark, in the murky water with her face pressed against a seat cushion. That's where the air was coming from."
Lilibeth asked for privacy as she visited the site of the crash with Brian's 3-year-old son.
"He was a great father now we know he's in heaven, him and Jennifer," Maria Solaris, Brian's former mother-in-law, said.
The child's grandmother told necn the loss has been devastating.
There is a sharp turn before the pond, but State Police are still trying to determine what caused the car to veer off the road. Firefighters on scene told necn there were no obvious signs that drugs or alcohol were involved.
