Couple Dies When Car Careens Off Freeway

A car went out of control and rolled down a 70-foot freeway embankment south of Palmdale Sunday night, killing a man and woman, the California Highway Patrol reported Monday.

Authorities were unaware of the accident until Monday afternoon, when the wreckage was sighted in thick brush east of the Antelope Valley Freeway near the Pearblossom Highway off-ramp, officials said. The crash apparently occurred at 8:54 p.m. Sunday--the time and day on the dead driver’s watch, which was broken in the accident, Officer Ruben DeAvila said.

The names of the victims, both Lancaster residents, were withheld until relatives could be notified. The driver, a man about 36 years old, and the 44-year-old female passenger apparently died instantly, DeAvila said.

Investigators determined that the driver drifted into the dirt-covered center while headed north on the freeway and lost control, with the car rebounding onto the freeway at a 45-degree angle. It went over the side of the freeway, became airborne and flipped end-over-end upon landing, coming to rest on its wheels, DeAvila said.