UPDATE: Victim, 63, ID’d after deadly Aguanga crash – Suspect on the run

UPDATED: Sunday, Jan. 5, 2:50 p.m., With additional details from CHP and County Coroner.

Officials believe the man they say was responsible for a deadly crash that killed an Aguanga woman may be planning to flee to Mexico and have asked for the public’s help finding him. Mitchell Roemer photo

AGUANGA — Authorities have publicly identified a man suspected of fleeing the scene of a deadly, three vehicle crash in Aguanga that killed a 63-year-old Aguanga woman early Friday morning, Jan. 3.

Officials investigating the fatal hit and run collision say the alleged suspect, Antone Wayne Bayard, 23, of Anza, may still be in the Temecula, San Diego or Anza valley areas, but that he may be planning on fleeing to Mexico.

Riverside County Sheriff-Coroner officials have since identified Joan Terlisner as the victim killed in the crash. A Coroner’s release indicated she succumbed to her injuries at the scene of the hit and run and her time of death was listed as 6:54 a.m.

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CHP and other emergency personnel were dispatched to the scene of Friday’s crash around 6:15 a.m., after receiving reports of a multiple-vehicle wreck on SR-371 near Wilson Valley Rd., according to the officials investigating the collision.

During their subsequent investigation, CHP interviewed witnesses and gathered evidence that led them to identifying Bayard as the driver who fled.

CHP has reported that Bayard was behind the wheel of a 2011 Nissan Versa that plowed into the back of a 1986 Toyota pickup, occupied by two Hemet residents. The Hemet pair was not injured in the crash.

CHP is asking for the public’s help locating 23-year-old, Antone Bernard, of Anza, after they say he fled the scene of a three-vehicle collision that killed 63-year-old, Aguanga resident, Joan Terlisner. CHP photo

The impact sent Bayard’s Nissan careening into oncoming traffic, where it smashed into a 2001 Mercedes-Benz being driven by Terlisner. Both the Nissan and the Mercedes then overturned, eventually coming to rest on opposite sides of the roadway, CHP said in releases after the collisions.

According to CHP, after climbing out of his wrecked Nissan, Bayard fled the scene on foot. Officers initially reported Bayard may have been injured in the crash and asked area residents for information about the then-unidentified man who fled.

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In addition to pending murder and other charges related to the deadly hit and run, CHP says Bayard is wanted for an altercation that left two officers injured.

Anyone with information about this investigation or who knows Bayard’s whereabouts is encouraged to immediately contact CHP dispatch at (858) 637-3800.

This is a developing story that will be updated as new information becomes available.


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Contact the writer: [email protected]

Trevor Montgomery, 48, moved in 2017 to the Intermountain area of Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source and Shasta County News Source. Additionally, he writes or has written for several other news organizations; including Riverside County based newspapers, Valley News, (the now defunct) Valley Chronicle, Anza Valley Outlook, and Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle; as well as Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County and 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.

Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, and Personnel/Background Investigations. He finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator and was a court-designated expert in child abuse and child sex-related crimes.

Trevor has been married for more than 29 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and his “fluid family” includes 13 children and 16 grandchildren.