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| BREAKING NEWS: Family identifies body of relative who died in accident |
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| Written by Amanda Dyer | News-Sentinel Staff | |
| Thursday, 17 July 2008 | |
 Roberta Garcia rests her head in her hand in a moment of grief at the scene where the body of her daughter, Adriana Garcia, was recovered Wednesday near Newman. (Dan Evans/News-Sentinel) The intersection at Needham Road and the rural road that runs parallel to the canal showed only hints of Tuesday afternoon's tragedy. The metal of the guardrail twisted like a shoelace. White powder used to mop up liquids expelled from the two vehicles hid skid marks, only a few feet long. The brisk waters of the canal rushed silently in the background, still but deep. Though not the dreadful scene of the day before, the marks signify the scar that has tainted this once idyllic-looking stretch of valley agriculture. The canal's waters are flat enough to skip rocks on, making it easy to see a twig, leaf, arm or leg that might disturb its calm. More than 10 miles from the accident, a California Highway Patrol officer traveling along the canal saw what appeared to be a body breaking the surface. The officer watched the body while he waited for other officers and Stanislaus County deputies to arrive at the scene near the intersection of Bell and Diehl roads. Some time later the body of a young Hispanic woman, most likely Adriana Garcia, was recovered from the aqueduct. After miles of traveling through the night she rested on the hard dirt next to the canal's concrete path and just southwest of a small bridge, wide enough for one car. A yellow tarp served as her blanket; her pillow the hard earth. Beneath the blanket two feet peeked out, one shod with a tan work boot. Later, a family member would arrive with the other boot, found under a bridge along the canal. The remains lay waiting for her family to arrive. Officers and deputies talked on the bridge. Media crews were corralled on the east side of the canal. A sheriff's van arrived at the scene and officers shielded the girl with a gray tarp while others lifted her into the van. Within a couple of hours, two vehicles pulled up on the road running along the eastern side of the canal. Five men and two women with solemn faces filed out of the car looking for one of their relatives. Later, Manuel Garcia, 33, would say the family slept little through the difficult night, mourning the loss of Eulalia Garcia, 34, and wondering where her sister, Adriana, might be. A sheriff's chopper hammered through the air and circled twice around the scene before following the aqueduct farther south, possibly searching for Lucas Martinez, a passenger in the SUV whose body has yet to be found. More family members arrived and the group briefly met with officers before it was decided that siblings Natalidad and Isasis Garcia would identify the body. The two trekked across the bridge before arriving at the sheriff's van. They emerged a few moments later, Natalidad crying uncontrollably. Reaching the other side of the bridge she buried her head in one of the male relative's chest. It was Adriana. Later, family members would say Adriana was an especially joyful girl, always making light of life. She learned to cook very young, some said. Even minutes after finding her body, the family, through an interpreter said those moments, the happy ones, will be the moments they remember. Adriana's mother, Roberta Garica, whose daughter Eulalia also died in the crash stayed near the family's parked cars, yards away from the waters that killed two her of daughters. Other family members loitered on the bridge, staring blankly into the dark water. Later Luis Magana, of the American Friends Services Committee, a group that helps migrant families sort through difficult situations, said Tuesday was the last day the group in the SUV would pick peaches at the Westley farm. They had heard of a brighter opportunity picking pears in West Sacramento and planned to follow it. Magana noted the lack of Spanish signs on the rural back roads where the crash occurred. "We don't see any signs in Spanish, and who works out here? Farm workers," he said. "This is farm worker territory." Back in Westley, resident Jowana Gonzales, 23, noted the frequency of these crashes on rural roads and the lack of Spanish signs. "There's been a lot," she said. Government housing along Grayson Road shelter most of Westley's 500 residents, farm workers, most of whom speak Spanish. A few stores and schools dot the otherwise residential and agricultural area. From May to October, Gonzales said, work in the nearby farms picks up a bit and people from all over the Southwestern United States and Mexico flow into town. Too often she said a car carrying workers crashes on the back road between the farms. Shortly after the accidents, containers where residents can contribute money show up at the few general stores in town. The donations afford the deceased a trip home. "I've pitched in once in a while," said Vernalis resident Victor Perez, 35, outside a Westley store. "Every little bit helps." Accidents are an all too common occurrence in the area, Perez said, recalling an accident about a year ago where a van tumbled into the canal. Back at the bridge, family members and reporters gathered into their respective vehicles and left the scene. The police, and with them, Adriana, had left some time ago. Beneath the bridge, the swift, unforgiving flow surged on south — indifferent to the lives it claimed or the body it may still carry.
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