ESSEX: Banning/Beaumont couple, killed after smashing into big-rig on I-40, ID’d

A couple who died earlier this week when their vehicle smashed into the back of a tractor-trailer big-rig that had stopped for another accident have been identified as being from the Inland Empire.

The deadly crash happened early Sunday morning, June 17, on Interstate 40, east of Kelbaker Road. The location is near the unincorporated rural community of Essex and about 80 miles west of the California/Arizona border.

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San Bernardino County Coroner’s officials later identified Robert Urias, 30, of Beaumont, and Adrianne Yniguez, 22, of Yucaipa, as the pair killed in the collision.

California Highway Patrol and other emergency first responders were dispatched to the scene at 5:41 a.m., after emergency dispatchers received a 911 call reporting the collision.

After the fatal crash, CHP’s Needles Area spokeswoman Katherine Lane explained that just before the collision, driver Urias and his passenger Yniguez were traveling westbound on I-40 at an unknown speed in a 2013 Nissan Altima.

At the same time, a 2019 Kenworth tractor-trailer was stopped in the westbound number one lane due to heavy traffic caused by another, unrelated accident on the highway.

“For unknown reasons, Urias’s vehicle drove directly into the rear of the trailer of the semi,” Lane explained.

Urias and Yniguez both died on impact and the couple was pronounced deceased at the scene by medical personnel, said Lane.

The driver of the big-rig, a 38-year-old man from New York, was uninjured, according to Lane.

Family members of the deceased couple later established a GoFundMe account to help offset funeral costs and other expenses.

“Our family has went through a tragic loss and Heaven has gained two beautiful souls,” Jessica Lopez explained on the fundraising website.

Describing Urias and Yniguez as “two of the most happiest vibrant people I have ever seen,” Lopez explained, “They had such a special love for one another that nothing can compare to it. They will now and forever be together.”

Neither alcohol or drug intoxication were not suspected to be contributing factors in the fatal crash and CHP’s investigation is ongoing.

 

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Trevor Montgomery, 46, recently moved to Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source and Shasta County News Source. Additionally, he writes for several other news organizations, including Riverside County based newspapers, Valley News, The Valley Chronicle and Anza Valley Outlook, as well as Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County and The Mountain Echo in Shasta County.

Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s accident.)

During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations, including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center and Lake Elsinore Station, along with other locations.