Only one year ago, Ruben Rodriguez and his then fiancée Juliana Plata Martinez welcomed the birth of their son, Daniel.
In August 2024, the couple was married on Daniel’s first birthday and after, they headed up to the mountains for their honeymoon, taking along the baby and his grandparents who were in town from Colombia for the wedding.
But, along the way a semi-truck crashed, lost its load and struck the family’s vehicle, killing Daniel’s grandmother and leaving the tiny boy an orphan.
Keep reading to learn about this tragic accident.
On August 12, 2023, Ruben Rodriguez shared a photo of his newborn on Facebook, the first child he shared with Juliana Martinez (Rodriquez).
Family and friends gushed over the adorable baby, dressed in a blue and white striped onesie with a matching beanie.
“Such a handsome little boy,” writes a friend of baby Daniel, to which the proud dad responded, “he’s a big boy.”
On Sunday August 11, 2024, the couple celebrated Daniel’s first birthday party by getting married, an event that was attended by Juliana’s parents, Carlos and Luz Martinez, who were visiting from their home in Colombia.
Days later, for their honeymoon, the newlyweds along with Daniel and his grandparents, packed into a car and headed up to the Colorado mountains.
On Thursday August 15, the family’s vehicle was traveling along the I-70 in the Wheat Ridge area, which is less than 20 miles from their home in Aurora, Colorado.
According to police, about 8:20 a.m., emergency officials responded to a “major crash” that involved “a semi-truck carrying large pipes.”
“At some point during the traffic event, the truck lost its load, which spilled across the westbound lanes,” Wheat Ridge Police Department writes in a release. “The debris field from the semi-truck’s tipped load spanned more than two football fields across both lanes of I-70. There were nearly 100 large blue plastic tubes that weighed roughly 500 lbs. each.”
The statement continues, “A passenger car traveling westbound was involved in this incident after the debris spilled into oncoming traffic. The car was struck and crashed, resulting in three fatalities.”
The passenger car was the one carrying Ruben, 33, his 37-year-old bride and Juliana’s mom.
All three were killed while Carlos and Daniel suffered injuries but survived.
‘Unimaginable pain’
“Now, Carlos is faced with the unimaginable pain of losing both his daughter and wife in such a short span of time,” Janell Rodriguez writes in a GoFundMe campaign that supports the families.
Speaking with local news, Janell, Ruben’s sister-in-law, says she’s stunned that days after a cheerful wedding celebration, loved ones are now dealing with heartbreak.
“We were just happy. We were just having fun. And then we get this news that they’re gone.”
Trying to understand the series of events that killed her loved ones, Janell says the family is looking for answers.
“We just want to know exactly what happened because they were on the other side of the highway. They weren’t even near the semi-truck,” explained Janell.
‘It’s hard’
Janell says that Ruben and Juliana “were setting goals early for their kid.” “Possibly have more children together and just had a normal life and just getting to begin their love story,” she says.
But their love story came to an early end, leaving Daniel an orphan.
Janell adds, “And then the baby without both of his parents, you know? It’s hard. It’s hard for the family. So we’re just gathered here right now just trying to be strong together.”
At least six other vehicles besides the truck were involved, police said, adding the investigation would likely take weeks, rather than days.
“Our hearts go out to the families that have been impacted by the tragic loss of life yesterday,” police said in a statement posted on social media.
Please share your thoughts with us and then share this story so we can all send our best wishes to the grieving families.
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