Valley Man Raising Money For Family Killed In Crash

“My heart hurts. People tell me ‘Don’t worry, you’ll get over it’, but I’m not. Never. It hurts.”

John Carriere talks about the pain of indescribable loss.

His fiance and young son — killed early in the morning of February 7th.

23-year-old Veronica Sarmiento and 3-year-old Christopher were riding in a car on Avenue 52 in Coachella when the car slammed into a freight train.

“I was working that night. She was on her way to see me,” said Carriere.

But, he didn’t know that at the time. He was heading home and got to the rail crossing just before Veronica did.

“I heard everything that was going on. I didn’t see anything because I was on the other side of the train,” said Carriere.

He says he saw the wreckage, but didn’t realize what happened until he got home.

“I came here and she wasn’t home. I went back there and the car was on the side of the tracks.”

What makes this time even more painful is that John and Vernonica planned to get married this weekend.

“I just felt this was the right time for us, because we were going to be together forever,” said Carriere.

Carriere says he’s been frustrated by the on-going investigation, as he tries to find out what led to the collision.

Now, there’s the challenge of coming up with the money to bury his family.

He says he has nearly half of the $13,000 it will take, but he needs help.

If you would like to help the family with funeral costs, an account has been set up.

Wells Fargo Bank John W. Carriere Acct# 3675295970