3 in Family Die in Collision on California 118 : Tragedy: A car with two women and an infant smashes into a truck. The father, searching for them, comes upon the scene.

A 22-year-old Oxnard woman, her 2-month-old daughter and the baby’s aunt were killed instantly Wednesday morning when their Ford Escort fishtailed around a sharp curve and smashed into an 18-wheeler headed in the opposite direction on California 118.

Maribel Ramirez, her infant daughter, Deseree and Marisela Coronado, 23, of Somis, were pronounced dead at the scene of the accident near Camarillo, coroner officials said.

The three were traveling at about 10 a.m. from the Moorpark home of the baby’s father to Oxnard to pick up Ramirez’s mother for a day of Christmas shopping.

When the three failed to arrive in Oxnard, the baby’s father, Ricardo Coronado, 24, drove out to search along their route.

“Ricardo thought maybe they were having car trouble and were stranded on the road,” said Ramirez’s father, Robert.

But when Coronado drove up to an emergency road block on California 118, he began to worry, Robert Ramirez said.

“He didn’t know what was going on, but eventually he forced his way to the accident and saw the car,” Ramirez said.

When Coronado realized his child, the baby’s mother and his sister were in the car, he broke down and had to be restrained by emergency personnel. He was led from the scene, taken home and counseled by a chaplain and a county mental health crisis team, officials said.

“It’s everybody’s worst nightmare--to come upon an accident and realize it’s your car with your family inside,” county fire spokeswoman Sandi Wells said. “To have everything taken away from you like that . . . it’s just not acceptable.”

Given the poignancy of the accident, several CHP officers and county firefighters were also expected to receive counseling, Wells said.

Officials said they believe Ramirez lost control of her car, crossed lanes and rammed into the on-coming truck. A witness said Ramirez was driving about 50 mph around an S curve on the rain-slicked road, CHP spokesman Dave Cockrill said.

Truck driver William Hunter, 41, of Mississippi, attempted to swerve off the road, but had little warning because of the steep curve, Cockrill said. Hunter, who was transporting refrigerated produce, was uninjured but, as a precaution, was taken to St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard and later released.

Ramirez was wearing a shoulder belt and the baby was resting in an infant carrier that was strapped to the front seat. Coronado, a secretary for an Oxnard tax preparer, was sitting in the back seat and not wearing a seat belt, Cockrill said.

However, considering the force of the accident--which nearly folded the car in half before flipping it--officials said neither seat belts nor a child safety seat would have made a difference.

Emergency crews spent several hours extracting the victims’ bodies and clearing the roadway of debris, including a stroller and diaper-changing kit. The road was reopened at 4:30 p.m., the CHP said.

The accident occurred within yards of the playground of Mesa Junior High School, but children playing outside at recess could not see the accident, which occurred on the opposite side of a small orange grove.

Robert Ramirez described his daughter as “friendly and always smiling.” She was born in Port Hueneme, attended Oxnard High School and recently worked in an attorney’s office in Camarillo.

“She was a very happy person,” said the 51-year-old Oxnard gardener. “She loved getting together with the family, that’s what she loved doing the most.”

Ramirez said Deseree smiled just like her mother, Maribel.

“When Deseree smiled she got a little wrinkle on the side of her lip,” he said. “And she had the cutest eyes you could imagine.

“Maribel really loved that baby.”