Victim in Sunday Crash Is Identified

The Sun Valley man who died when his sport utility vehicle plunged off Pacific Coast Highway and into the ocean Sunday night was identified as 33-year-old Yevgeniy Valenchits.

Ventura County sheriff’s search and rescue teams found Valenchits’ body at Leo Carrillo State Beach -- about five miles south of Sycamore Cove, where the accident occurred about 8:30 p.m., authorities said. He died of head injuries suffered in the crash, according to the county medical examiner’s office.

Valenchits’ fiancee, 27-year-old Zhanna Uvarova, was rescued from the wreckage by three passing motorists. She suffered only moderate injuries and was released Monday from St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard. The cause of the accident is under investigation.