The mother of a motorcycle rider killed Saturday in a hit-and-run accident on an Imperial County highway said the driver needs to "man up" and turn himself in.
"I couldn't have had a more perfect daughter," Sandra Greeny said Monday night. "We are very close she was my best friend."
Greeny's daughter Tonya Trayer, 37, of Lakeside was one of five people killed in a pileup in Imperial County Saturday morning.
"Tonya was so giving, she had the biggest heart," Greeny said. "I can't say enough good things about her."
Trayer was part of a caravan of motorcycle riders involved in the deadly crash on State Route 98 about 80 miles east of San Diego.
Investigators say a driver of a gold Honda Civic tried to pass the bikers but apparently didn't see an oncoming car in the opposite lane. That car, a white Dodge Avenger lost control and slammed head-on into the bikers, injuring four and killed three including Tonya.
The Avenger's driver, Carlos Ramirez Bobadilla, 36, of Mexicali, Mexico was injured in the crash and his passenger, Ana Lilia Gonzalez, 31, of Mexicali, Mexico was killed.
The three other motorcycle riders have been identified as George William Miller, 57, of Ramona; Lance Allen Heath, 43, of Alpine; and his wife, Amy Heath, 36, of Alpine.
Investigators searched Monday for a second motorist after determining Bobadilla was not at fault.
Local
Trayer was riding with her husband Wilson, who survived but is hospitalized with serious injuries.
"He had two broken feet, his ankles, both his wrists are broken, his pelvis, his jaw, some cracked ribs," said Greeny.
The couple has three kids and one grandchild.
The driver of the Civic pulled back in front of the motorcyclists and briefly hit his brakes but kept on going after seeing the accident, said Saddletramps Motorcycle Club president Carl Smith.
CHP is working with customs officials, reviewing security cameras from the port of entry in Calexico, in case the driver escaped to Mexico.
No one got the California license plate number of the Honda. Smith said he thought about chasing the fleeing driver but instead hit the brakes and made a U-turn to help his friends.
"He needs to man up. He needs to take responsibility. He needs to understand that he took lives that were precious and wonderful," Greeny said.
