By the Daily Post staff
The families of the three young men killed on Skyline Boulevard say a guard rail might have saved their lives.
Matthew Cruz, 18, of Redwood City, Andrew Gonzales, 18, of Menlo Park and Ricardo Torres, 19, of Redwood City were found dead in a 2010 Hyundai on the morning of Nov. 1. The Hyundai crashed after falling down an embankment on Skyline Boulevard, also known as Highway 35, just south of Bear Gulch Road.
“The families feel that if the guard rail in that location along Highway 35 would have been in place, the outcome may have been different and their children could still be alive today,” said Menlo Park Fire Protection District Chief Harold Schapelhouman.
Fundraising effort
Cruz’s father Gary Cruz has proposed that a guardrail be built on the stretch of road that the trio crashed their vehicle so other families don’t need to go through the same tragedy.
Torres’ parents and relatives of Gonzalez have also expressed support of Gary’s idea and working with Caltrans and San Mateo County to make it happen and have started a GoFundMe page to raise funds for it. The page can be found at www.gofundme.com/7fmg8u-help-prevent-another-tragedy.
Memorial draws large crowd
About 1,000 people attended a memorial service for the three young men at Nativity Church in Menlo Park on Thursday.
Torres was the son of Rudy Torres, the fire district’s master mechanic.
Torres and Gonzales were Fire Explorers with Post 109, a Menlo Park Fire District program. Cruz attended kindergarten with Torres and high school with Gonzales. The three friends were always together, Schapelhouman said.
