The previously unidentified victim in the Sept. 12 fatal head-on
collision on Highway 156 has been identified as Eugenio Arellanes,
a 15-year-old King City male. He was identified through DNA testing
from various sources, including genetic material from his sister,
sheriff’s Lt. Roy Iler said today.
HOLLISTER
The previously unidentified victim in the Sept. 12 fatal head-on collision on Highway 156 has been identified as Eugenio Arellanes, a 15-year-old King City male. He was identified through DNA testing from various sources, including genetic material from his sister, sheriff’s Lt. Roy Iler said today.
Authorities collected DNA from the victim’s sister, his toothbrush, hair from the scene and blood from the body, and sent it to the Department of Justice for a comparison match. Members of the San Benito County Sheriff’s Office previously visited the family but were unable to confirm an official identify due to the body’s condition.
Both the King City male victim and a 47-year-old Hollister man, Raymond Mattos, were killed in the accident on Sept. 12. A release from the California Highway patrol said it was a head-on collision on Highway 156 between a van and a pick-up truck just outside of Hollister shortly after 5 a.m.
Five other occupants in one of the vehicles suffered injuries and had to be airlifted to various hospitals, according to the release.
The victim was a passenger in a 1993 Chevy van, while all five other occupants were airlifted from the scene, according to the CHP.
The van became “fully engulfed” after the collision. The man was unconscious after the accident and died from the fire, the press release noted.
The CHP also pointed out that one of the five other occupants in the van suffered major injuries and that the Hollister man was not wearing a seat belt.
