OCEANSIDE, Calif. — A North County San Diego family is grappling with an unimaginable tragedy, after three of their daughters were killed over the weekend in a head-on crash outside of Boise, Idaho.
One of the girls, 16-year-old Priscilla Rojas-Carrasco, was a sophomore at Oceanside High School, where her two older sisters, Melissa and Jasmin, had graduated.
The three sisters had been in Idaho on vacation, driving along a highway about 30 miles west of Boise when tragedy struck.
"When I saw those flames, I just wanted to get in my car and pretend I didn't see it," said Tanya Hoebel, who had just embarked on a road trip from her home in Nampa, Idaho, headed to California last Saturday afternoon, when she came across the fiery accident.
A Honda Civic traveling northbound had collided with a GMC Sierra pick-up heading southbound.
"A gentleman came walking toward me from the accident and told me not to proceed toward the accident," Hoebel said.
But Hoebel was determined to help.
"I can see there is smoke from the vehicle," she recalled. "In fact, I can see flames now from the vehicle."
She and other Good Samaritans used their fire extinguishers to try to keep the flames at bay as the three occupants in the pick-up managed to make it out alive.
The four occupants of the Honda Civic though were not as fortunate.
Sisters from Oceanside: 26-year-old Melissa Rojas-Carrasco, 22-year-old Jasmin Rojas-Carrasco, and 16-year-old Priscilla Rojas Carrasco were all killed, as was 22-year-old Juan Pablo Farias from Vacaville.
The two older sisters had graduated from Oceanside High School, where Priscilla was a sophomore taking honors classes.
In a statement, the school said "there are no words to describe this tragic loss," adding that they are working to help the sisters' family and offering support to those students struggling to come to terms with this sudden loss.
The grim focus now: bringing the bodies of the three sisters home so that they can be laid to rest.
On a GoFundMe page set up by one of the girls' godmothers to help pay for funeral expenses, she wrote, "There are no words to describe the pain of losing such beautiful and bright young ladies. Melissa, Jasmin, and Priscilla Rojas you will be missed."
For more information on how to help the family, as they work to transport the girls' bodies from Idaho back here to California and prepare for their funerals, click here.