The Garden City Telegram
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Two killed in one-vehicle wreck
Published 8/13/2009 in Local News : Police
By The Telegram
Two Garden City residents were killed in a car crash in Ford County Wednesday night.
Amy Arteaga, 18, and Rita Gisela Perez, 22, died from injuries sustained during the accident, according to the Kansas Highway Patrol. The accident occurred at about 9:30 p.m. It was unclear this morning if the two women died at the scene of the accident.
Perez was wearing a seat belt, and Arteaga was not, according to the KHP.
Daniel Perez-Galeana, 18, was driving a 1998 Jeep Cherokee on Kansas Highway 34 when he lost control going around a curve, entered the west ditch, struck an embankment and went airborne over U.S. Highway 400, according to the KHP. The jeep landed in a field north of U.S. 400 and came to rest on its top.
Perez-Galeana, Garden City, was taken to Western Plains Hospital in Dodge City with injuries. He was not wearing a seat belt. Western Plains staff would not release his condition. Dayani Perez, a 1-year-old, was flown to Wesley Medical Center in Wichita. She was restrained in a car seat.
Wesley staff would not release the condition of the child, citing patient privacy.
Note: A previous version of this story included incorrect information about who was wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash. A corrected version appears here.
Found 10 comment(s)!
Gisela and Amy
Gis, y Amy we miss you so much. Every single day... I feel that there is something missing in my heart. It is only through the love and grace of God that we keep on living here without you. On behalf of the Perez family I would like to thank you all for your condolences and ask that you continue to pray for our families.
Posted by: Johanna on 10/24/2009
Two Killed in accident
I am very sorry for the loss of these two girls! Too young to be taken away from this world. Keep moving forward Daniel, that is all you can do. Good luck with everything in the future!!
Posted by: Monica on 8/24/2009
Reports show two people were killed
Leslie, here is the Kansas Highway Patrol's log of the crash, which shows that two people died as a result of the crash: https://www.accesskansas.org/ssrv-khp-crashlogs/display.do?log=2009-009616.
We also have received obituaries from Ms. Arteaga (http://www.gctelegram.com/Obituaries/Amy-Arteaga-obit-8-15-09) and Ms. Perez (http://www.gctelegram.com/Obituaries/Rita-Perez-obit-8-14-09).
Posted by: Emily Behlmann, Web editor on 8/18/2009
Familiy Arteaga
it was one killed u big idiots
Posted by: Leslie on 8/17/2009
Prayers
My thoughts and prayers go out to the families of both of these young ladies. I cannot even imagine the pain these families are in. I knew Rita from classes out at GCCC and always enjoyed her personality. She was very dedicated in what she was doing. God bless both families.
Posted by: Rose on 8/17/2009
Two killed in one-vehicle wreck
If you've ever driven the road where this accident happened, it is a strange intersection, and I personally think the driver did everything in his power to try to avoid hitting other vehicles once he realized what was happening. I was at the intersection at the time of the accident, and I did not even realize there WAS an accident! All I know is that I had seen two sets of headlights coming toward me so I dimmed my lights. One was coming from the south on the Bucklin road (Highway 34) and one from the east on US 400 as I was approaching the corner to turn south to Bucklin. As I was making the turn heading south on Highway 34, I heard a screeching noise and thought I must have turned too sharp and hit the stop sign. Upon looking into my right mirror, I saw what looked like a small red ball with sparks coming from it. I thought maybe I had lost a hubcap or something, but I had NO IDEA that there was a car passing right beside me and nearly hitting me. I continued on wondering what in the world I had seen and also wondering where in the world the set of headlights that were coming up Highway 34 disappeared to. When I got to my daughter and son-in-law's house and told them about it, they did mention that there was another road right before that intersection and that they had probably turned down that road. That made sense, but I still could not figure out what the red ball, sparks, and noise I heard were. I knew there had been a meteorite shower the night before, and all I could think was that it was part of a meterorite, since I didn't have any marks on my car at all. Had I known it was a car accident I would have without a doubt stopped and helped in any way I could. I didn't even find out until the following evening that there had been a deadly accident there. All I can figure out is that the headlights must have been knocked out on the initial impact into the ditch and that a tire had fallen off and what I had seen in the mirror was a tail light (the red ball I had seen) and the sparks must have been the wheel scraping the highway as the car was leaving the pavement. It is amazing to me that I wasn't hit and the car coming from the east wasn't hit either. I think the driver did everything in his power to keep that from happening, and I thank him and God for that. My heart goes out to all familes involved, and I can honestly say that I have thought about little else than this accident since it happened. I could very easily have been hit by their vehicle and killed too. I am sure the driver of the vehicle is just sick over all of this, and I know his life will be changed forever. May God bless him and the sweet little girl who was in the carseat with a complete recoveries, both physically and emotionally. I don't know the relationships, but I imagine one of the young ladies who was killed was her mother. May Amy and Rita both rest in peace, and may their families find comfort knowing they are both in the arms of God.
Posted by: laura on 8/15/2009
two killed in one vehicle wreck
If you've ever driven that stretch of road where this accident happened, it is a strange intersection, and I personally think the driver did everything in his power to try to avoid hitting other vehicles once he realized what was happening. I was at the intersection at the time of the accident, and I did not even realize there WAS an accident! All I know is that I had seen two sets of headlights coming toward me so I dimmed my lights. One was coming from the south on the Bucklin road (Highway 34) and one from the east on US 400 as I was approaching the corner to turn south to Bucklin. As I was making the turn heading south on Highway 34, I heard a screeching noise and thought I must have turned too sharp and hit the stop sign. Upon looking into my right mirror, I saw what looked like a small red ball with sparks coming from it. I thought maybe I had lost a hubcap or something, but I had NO IDEA that there was a car passing right beside me and nearly hitting me. I continued on wondering what in the world I had seen and also wondering where in the world the set of headlights that were coming up Highway 34 disappeared to. When I got to my daughter and son-in-law's house and told them about it, they did mention that there was another road right before that intersection and that they had probably turned down that road. That made sense, but I still could not figure out what the red ball, sparks, and noise I heard were. I knew there had been a meteorite shower the night before, and all I could think was that it was part of a meterorite, since I didn't have any marks on my car at all. I didn't find out until the following evening that there had been a deadly accident there. All I can figure out is that the headlights must have been knocked out on the initial impact into the ditch and that a tire had fallen off and what I had seen in the mirror was a tail light (the red ball I had seen) and the sparks must have been the wheel scraping the highway as the car was leaving the pavement. It is amazing to me that I wasn't hit and the car coming from the east wasn't hit either. I think the driver did everything in his power to keep that from happening, and I thank him for that. My heart goes out to all familes involved, and I can honestly say that I have thought about little else than this accident since it happened. I could very easily have been hit by their vehicle and killed too. I am sure the driver of the vehicle is just sick over all of this and will probably never be the same. May God bless the driver of the car and the sweet little girl who was in the carseat with a complete recovery, both physically and emotionally. I don't know the relationships, but I imagine one of the young ladies was her mother. May Amy and Rita both rest in peace, and may their families find comfort knowing they are both in the arms of God.
Posted by: laura on 8/15/2009
In memory
I had the pleasure of having Amy in my classroom and she was an incredible young woman. The fact that she was wearing her seatbelt shows me that even until the end she was doing things the right way. I hope her life will be an example of how other young people should live their lives.
Posted by: Jesse A. Bernal on 8/15/2009
RIP
Rita u were a great and kind person, i just cant believe that u r gone u will always be in r hearts and r memories shared rest in peace Love You
Posted by: Sarah on 8/14/2009
AMY WAS A VERY FRIEND OF MiNE i SEND MY CONDOLENCES TO THE ARTEAGA FAMiLY MAY SHE ALWAYS REST iN PEACE =[ WE MiSS YU AMY
Posted by: belen on 8/13/2009
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