Fort Worth police are investigating what caused an SUV to fall from a bridge into the icy waters of Mary’s Creek in far west Tarrant County Saturday night, killing a surgeon and his assistant and injuring another.
Dr. Robert Weinstein, a 71-year-old oral surgeon from Addison, and his assistant, 21-year-old Abigail Resendiz, were killed in the crash, according to the Tarrant County medical examiner.
Numerous divers from the Fort Worth Fire Department spent at least an hour trying to help free the victims.
According to Lt. Michael Glynn, one woman was able to free herself and tell emergency personnel two people were still inside the vehicle.
Divers were able to reach and free Resendiz, who later died. According to Glynn, Weinstein’s body was removed from the water with the SUV and firefighters were forced to use the Jaws of Life to free him.
His brother told NBC 5, Weinstein was a well-known oral surgeon in North Dallas, and he and his co-workers were likely returning from Midland-Odessa, where they frequently went for work, when the crash happened.
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His family described him as full of life and someone who loved to travel. Weinstein is survived by his wife and six children.
Those who have worked with both Weinstein and Resendiz were shocked to learn of their deaths. Dr. Charles Chilcoat said Weinstein was like a brother to him.
“[He} never met a stranger,” Chilcoat said. “He and his wife traveled quite a bit, in fact they went basically around the world last year. He was a mentor to me and a good friend.”
Chilcoat described Resendiz as, “always upbeat, very optimistic, I’d be pretty tired at the end of the day and she’d say, 'Come on Dr. Chilcoat, we just have one more patient, you can get through it,' so she was a good kid.”
“I know if he were able to talk to you he would say, 'So be it if God called me home,' but to have Abby, she was just 21 years old, and that’s so sad,'" Chilcoat said.
