San Diego

Hikers Find 2 Women Dead in Crashed Car in East County Canyon

Officials have identified two women who were killed Sunday when their vehicle went off westbound State Route 52 and crashed in a canyon in the East County.

Solana Beach resident Nicole Shamoun, 35, and Sarah Lindsay Constantine, 31 of Acton, California, were found Sunday morning by two hikers on Oak Canyon Trail, according to the Medical Examiner's Office.

The vehicle crashed in the canyon just west of Mast Boulevard though it was not clear how long the women were inside the vehicle before being discovered. 

CHP investigators say the car plummeted 125 feet below the roadway, leaving the car unrecognizable.

The hikers called 911 and both women were declared dead when the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department responded just before 8 a.m. 

Shamoun, a real estate agent in the Solana Beach area, leaves behind a boyfriend and a 3-year-old son.

I have to break [her son] the news today, that his mother is no longer with us," Shamoun's boyfriend Kevin Phillips said. "I have to figure out a way to explain that to him, which is -- I don't know how i'm gonna do it, but I'm gonna do it, and I'm gonna get through it."

Shamoun's friends say she was a devoted mother with what they called a "rolodex" of friends.

"Just shock," Shamoun's friend Shirley Slee said about the news. "You just can't believe that somebody so vibrant and so full of life is here one minute and then gone the next."

Constantine's mother told NBC 7 that both women "were dedicated to their children, and their careers, and they loved God."

CHP believes Constantine was driving the vehicle at the time of the crash. It was not clear what led to the crash or if drugs or alcohol were considered factors. 

A GoFundMe page has been set up to support Shamoun's family and son.

No other information was available.

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