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Woman dies in head-on crash on South Mission Road

FALLBROOK – A 20-year-old woman, identified by the Medical Examiner's Office as Guadalupe Esmeralda Perulero, died and three other people were seriously injured in a head-on crash in Fallbrook early Feb. 4.

According to the California Highway Patrol, Perulero was in a rear passenger seat of a small 1996 Saturn sedan when the northbound Saturn drifted into oncoming southbound traffic on South Mission Road and collided with a 2007 Ford U-Haul truck near Quail Knoll Road at approximately 1 a.m.

The Saturn's driver, a 19-year-old Fallbrook man, and his three passengers were all trapped inside the car, and none were believed to have been wearing seat belts, California Highway Patrol Officer Mark Latulippe said.

When emergency crews arrived they found Perulero dead in the back seat from "obvious fatal trauma,'' officials said. As of midday Feb. 6, the Medical Examiner's Office did not have a city or state of residence for Perulero listed on its website.

The 19-year-old driver suffered major trauma and a fractured left hand, and was flown to Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, Latulippe said. He was expected to survive.

The other two passengers, a 17-year-old Escondido girl and a 20-year-old Fallbrook man, were taken to Palomar Medical Center in Escondido with moderate injuries.

The driver of the Ford U-Haul, a 27-year-old man from Fallbrook, received minor injuries and was not taken to a hospital, Latulippe said.

Officers believe drugs or alcohol may have contributed to the collision.

 

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