New heartbreaking details have emerged in Sunday’s fatal wrong-way crash along Loop 820 in Northwest Fort Worth.
Police say the violent collision claimed the lives of a family of four inside the car traveling the wrong way and a bride-to-be in a pickup truck.
Chelsea Cook, 33, died at the scene.
Laurel Summerfield says her daughter and her fiancé Evan Ranallo were about a mile from their exit when the wrong-way driver smashed into them just after 3:30 Sunday morning.
Get top local stories in DFW delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC DFW's News Headlines newsletter.
Ranallo is a musician in five bands and had been performing at an annual Halloween show in Keller with his So Long, Goodnight bandmates.
"He’s touched a lot of people, and he’s going to continue to do that," said Paul Seidler.
After the show, bandmates say they all helped unload gear at their rehearsal studio in North Richland Hills before Ranallo and Cook began their drive home.
The wreck happened minutes later.
NBC 5 spoke with a woman who says she narrowly avoided being hit by the wrong-way driver speeding past her.
“They were driving straight and they were going over 80 miles they were definitely going over 80 miles,” said Valerie who asked NBC 5 not to use her last name. “It was just shocking to us because literally that would have been us, by one second if we wouldn't have swerved out the way. It makes us feel kind of guilty again because somebody else passed away. The whole family in the car passed away, but they also killed somebody else.”
Valerie says she called 911 at 3:30 a.m., but everything happened very fast.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
They turned around to get more information on the driver when they saw the flames.
According to FWPD, the wrong-way driver with a family of four smashed into a pickup truck, killing the female passenger and seriously injuring her fiancé.
Summerfield, Cook’s mother, shared photographs with NBC 5 and says Evan had just proposed to Cook three weeks ago at Albuquerque’s Balloon Fiesta.
"One hundred percent the love of his life," said bandmate Kevin Scott. "She was a beautiful person. She was my wife’s best friend so, yeah, it's really tough."
Summerfield was ‘shocked’ to learn the vehicle traveling the wrong way had a mother, father and two minors inside.
Tragically, the car exploded into flames in the collision, trapping the family inside.
“We don’t know if toxicology results have come back or if we’re even able to get that,” said FWPD Officer Tracy Carter.
The gruesome aftermath may make it difficult, if not impossible.
Detectives have also tried to determine the identity of the people in the car, where they were coming from and how and why they managed to enter the freeway in the wrong direction.
“We don’t know if this was people that didn’t know exactly where they were going or what exactly happened,” said Carter.
He urges, anyone who knows the family to come forward saying “If they were with this family if they know of the family’s whereabouts, please reach out to us [at 817-392-4884.]”
Police extending condolences to witnesses and families affected by the tragedy, including first responders who rushed to the scene.
Whatever caused the driver to travel in the wrong direction, Carter says it could've been prevented.
"We can’t fathom how it happened still," said Scott.
Police urge drivers to pay attention to signage and have alternate routes in case you get lost.
When asked to describe her daughter, Summerfield said, “She was the most extroverted, bubbly, artsy person. She had a pension for finding people struggling, socially or not confident, and building them up. She always wanted to help the underdog. She loved her dogs. She was a theater kid and creative.“
Cook is the second of her four children.
She worked for a small travel company that plans high-end trips to Africa. Her colleagues are preparing to launch an online fundraiser.
Summerfield says Ranallo’s bandmates rushed to his side at the hospital over the weekend and that Ranallo has been informed by loved ones that Chelsea is gone.
