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| BREAKING NEWS: Family, friends mourn six from Lodi who died in horrific accident |
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| Written by Chris Nichols and Natalie Flynn | News-Sentinel Staff | |
| Thursday, 17 July 2008 | |
 Abraham Hernandez, 11, and Veronica Sanchez, 7, carry boxes to collect money Wednesday for the families of seven people killed in a crash. (Brian Feulner/News-Sentinel) In all, five Lodi farmworkers, possibly a sixth, plus a Merced man met a tragic end Tuesday afternoon, when two vehicles crashed near Westley and tumbled into the deep, swift water of the Delta Mendota canal. Families on Wednesday remembered the departed as hard-working, generous souls. They included fun-loving uncles and cousins, caring mothers and teenagers lost much too young. Some family members, like Araceli Martinez, of Lodi, returned to the crash scene where the body of her uncle, Adan Martinez, 23, and several other victims was pulled from the canal Tuesday night. Her cousin, Lucas Martinez, 20, remained the final of seven victims still missing as of late Wednesday. He was presumed dead. "We are truly desperate," Araceli Martinez said late Wednesday afternoon, from near the crash site. "It's so hard right now ... . We just want to know what happened." Adan and Lucas Martinez, along with Isaac Tapia, 16, Adriana Garcia, 17, Eulalia Garcia, 34, and Elizar Cruz, 19, all of Lodi, were all returning from an early morning shift picking peaches when the sport utility vehicle they were riding in and was struck by a septic truck. The truck driver, Luis Perez, 45, of Merced was also killed in the accident. A lighted candle, crucifix and tapestry of the Virgin Mary sat on a living room table at the Martinez family home on North Stockton Street in Lodi. Friends and relatives streamed in and out of the modest, red-trimmed house most of the day. Several began making arrangements to send the bodies of those killed to Mexico, a task that will take time and several thousand dollars for each body. Below is a look at those lost in the crash. Adan and Lucas Martinez  Martinez The uncle, Adan, and nephew, Lucas, had lived in Lodi for about four years, family members said, after arriving from Guerrero, Mexico. Like the other victims in Tuesday's crash, Adan and Lucas traveled throughout California and the West Coast working from farm to farm, season by season. By spring, it was cherries in Washington and Oregon. Summer brought work in California's tomato fields and later its grape vineyards. Neither was married. And though they did not have children of their own, they played constantly with their relatives' young sons and daughters at the Martinez home, always showing affection. Adan even used a picture of his 9-month-old cousin, Annabel, as the background on his cell phone, said Annabel's mother, Rosi Martinez. "He was looking forward to her first birthday," Rosi said, standing on the steps of the Martinez home. Though just 23, Adan was considered a leader in the Martinez home. On pay days, the jovial man often took the whole family to dinner. "He would just get paid and say 'Hey, are you guys ready to eat?'" said Araceli, Adan's niece and Lucas' cousin. The two men spent nearly every moment together. When they weren't working or spending time with family, they'd be found playing basketball at Hale Park. They hoped one day to return to Mexico, said Humberto Martinez, Adan's nephew and Lucas' cousin. In the meantime, they were working to support their parents in their native country. As Humberto spoke, buckets of freshly picked peaches sat in the Martinez driveway Wednesday afternoon. "It is a sad reminder," Humberto said. "(But) someone has to do the labor, the farm's work." Eulalia Garcia, 34  Garcia "She worked very hard for her sons until they could get here in America," Solis said. And the hard work paid off. Solis said Garcia's sons were able to move to her East Pine Street home about two years ago. Garcia also lived with her daughter Ivonne. Other friends remember the motherly woman for her efforts in keeping the neighborhood safe. She would remind children to stay out of the street and could often been seen making tamales for family and friends, said former co-worker, Sandra Rivas. "She was very nice, she tried to keep the neighborhood kids out of trouble," Rivas said. Wednesday afternoon, those kids Garcia worked so hard at keeping out of trouble were cleaning her porch and tidying up the lawn. It was unclear when Garcia moved to Lodi, but neighbors agreed she had been there for quite awhile because she first lived down the street in another home. Garcia's brother-in-law, Francisco Martinez, said Garcia and her husband, Alejandro Garcia, would do anything to help out. Isaac Tapia, 16  Tapia Some good, some a little corny. "Isaac would always come to the house and make jokes," said 16-year-old Dalila Escobedo, friend of the family. "They were funny, but sometimes, they weren't that funny." Luis Sanchez, 19, a former co-worker of Tapia said he was working to save money for a car. But, in his spare time, Tapia could be seen cleaning Garcia's yard and gardening. "He was always trying to help, he took care of the lawn ... planted plants around the house," Sanchez said, "he wanted the area to look nicer." Also known for his competitiveness in the handball court, Tapia would clean for friends' mothers, sometimes staying all night to help, Escobedo said. Adriana Garcia, 17 The former Lawrence Elementary School volunteer was best known in the East Pine Street community as a hard worker. She dropped out of Lodi High School to go work and raise money to help her mother pay for rent, said neighbor Yesenia Zabala. And she always was cheerful and friendly. "She was caring and always had a smile on her face, I remember seeing her (smile) when I would go to the park," said friend, Dalila Escobedo. But in her spare time, Garcia was friendly with neighbors and watched over the young children when parents were unavailable. "She likes playing with the kids," Zabala said. "She was a good friend, I just moved here and she saw me outside and we just started talking." Escobedo said Garcia moved to America from Pueblo, Mexico in sixth grade, when she was 11 years old. It is unclear where she may have gone to elementary and middle school. Elizar Cruz, 19 Though family and friends of Cruz could not be located Wednesday, the Martinez family did identify him as a co-worker of Adan and Lucas Martinez. They also said he has family in both Bakersfield and Lodi, but did not know where he lived. Luis Perez The 45-year-old Merced man was the driver of the septic truck. His body was recovered Tuesday evening when the truck was pulled from the canal. The vehicle is owned by United Site Services, Inc., a Westborough, Mass.-based company. According to the Associated Press, a spokeswoman for the Mass. company said Perez had been cleaning out portable toilets in a nearby orchard before the crash. Perez had no record of accidents since he began working as a service driver in 2000, and was a dedicated employee, the spokeswoman said. Attempts to reach Perez's family in Merced were unsuccessful.
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