Two weekend car crashes leave four dead

Four people died, including a nine-year-old girl, and a four-year-old child is fighting for his life in intensive care following two separate single-vehicle accidents over the weekend on I-84 in Elmore County.

Three people were killed in a single-car rollover Sunday evening on I-84 at milepost 107.

According to Idaho State Police and Elmore County deputies, Raquel Rodriguez, 30, of Hammett, was traveling eastbound in a 1999 Ford Explorer with five passengers when she apparently lost control of the vehicle at about 6:30 p.m.

Rodriguez went into the median rolling the vehicle multiple times. Rodriguez and her five passengers, three adults and her two children, ages 4 and 9, were all ejected from the vehicle.

Eastbound traffic was blocked for approximately 30 minutes while multiple helicopter air ambulances rushed to the scene. Rodriguez and a male passenger, Gregorio Monreal-Garcia, 27, both died of their injuries at the scene. Her daughter, nine-year-old Raquel Ballesteros, died of her injuries early Tuesday morning, after being transported initially by air ambulance, along with her 5-year-old sister, from the scene to St. Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise. Her sister remained in critical condition at press time Tuesday morning.

The other two adult passengers received serious but not life-threatening injuries. One was transported by air ambulance to Saint Alphonsus in Boise. The other adult passenger was taken to Elmore Medical Center.

It is not believed that any of the occupants were wearing proper safety restraints. Alcohol did not appear to be a factor in the crash, which was still under investigation.

The other fatal accident occurred Friday, Oct. 31, around 9:30 p.m. at milepost 129 on I-84 near King Hill.

According to ISP officers and Elmore County deputies who responded, Rosa Silva, 24, of Boise, was traveling eastbound on I-84 in a 1992 Mazda 626, when, for unknown reasons, she went off the road, hit a rock embankment and rolled the vehicle once before it came to rest on its wheels.

Silva was not wearing a seatbelt. She had been ejected from the vehicle and first responders found her under the Mazda she had been driving. She died at the scene.

Her passenger, Amber Martinez, 24, of Boise was taken by air ambulance to St Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise where she was treated and later released. Martinez was wearing a seatbelt.

Alcohol did appear to be a factor in the crash. The crash is still under investigation.