Hit-Run Driver Sought in Crash That Killed 2 Girls

Authorities were searching Sunday for the driver of a car involved in a fiery crash in which two young girls were killed this weekend on the Foothill Freeway in Duarte.

The girls were napping in the back seat of a car that had stalled by the freeway’s center divider near Mountain Avenue on Saturday evening, authorities said. While one of two adults sought help, the car was struck from behind by a vehicle traveling about 90 m.p.h., authorities said.

While the two cars became engulfed in flames, the driver of the second car fled on foot, California Highway Patrol officials said.

Elena Ferrer, 12, and Shannon White, 10, were killed. Elena’s father, Antonio Ferrer, 50, was taken to Huntington Memorial Hospital after he was pulled from the driver’s seat of his car by a passer-by. He was listed in critical but stable condition Sunday evening after being treated for bruises and burns, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Authorities found spilled beer and two empty cans in the wreckage of the hit-and-run driver’s car, CHP Officer Michael Schwab said.

“There isn’t much to explain why the driver was traveling so fast in the marked-off area of the freeway,” Schwab said. But he added, “The driving pattern and the evidence indicate that he was drinking.”

The hit-and-run driver was injured and left a trail of blood as he fled into a residential neighborhood north of the freeway.

Ferrer had taken his daughter, his friend, Elicio Briones, 51, of Azusa, and Briones’ niece, Shannon, to a picnic at Santa Anita Racetrack sponsored by the bottled water company that employs Ferrer. The group was returning to Ferrer’s home in Hawthorne when his car developed engine trouble, relatives said.

Because of moderate traffic on the freeway, Antonio Ferrer worried about the girls being able to cross lanes safely on foot, said Elena’s aunt, Doris Panopio. With the children already napping, he thought it would be best to wait in the car while Briones went for help, Panopio said.

About 50 relatives and friends gathered at the family’s home Sunday afternoon and quietly described Elena in the present tense. They said that, among Antonio Ferrer’s five daughters and one son, “she is his favorite.”

“Elena is the baby of the family,” the girl’s sister-in-law, Ruby Ferrer, 22, said. “She is like his pet. Wherever he goes, he takes her.”