SF Fil-Ams mourn loss of fellow Pinoy killed in car crash

CALIFORNIA, USA – An outpouring of support welled up for the family of a young man killed in a vehicle crash along a two-lane road earlier this month.  

Andre Apodaca, 20, of Daly City died in the crash reported January 7 just before 4 am on Skyline Boulevard (State Route 35) near King Drive in Pacifica. 

“Upon arrival, emergency personnel located a single vehicle just south of the intersection engulfed in flames,” Pacifica police said in a news release. “After the flames were extinguished, fire personnel determined the driver and sole occupant was deceased inside this vehicle. At this time, it does not appear any other vehicles were involved in this collision.”

Police found no obvious cause for the crash. “Nothing stood out,” police Capt. Daniel Steidle told Philippine News.

But police are continuing their investigation, which includes looking into the vehicle’s speed at the time of the crash. Police were also awaiting a coroner’s toxicology report, which is standard procedure to find out whether or not a crash involved drugs or alcohol.

Police will “put it all together” to determine what exactly happened, Steidle said, but the investigation will take several weeks to complete.

Authorities did not immediately name the fatal victim, but family and friends on the fundraising site YouCaring.com and elsewhere online identified the driver as Apodaca.

His mother, Lisa Apodaca Dalisay, started a fundraising campaign for his funeral expenses on YouCaring.com that generated $20,809 – substantially surpassing the goal set at $3,000 – as of January 19 with still about two weeks left for people to donate.

“We want to thank you all for the generosity and support that everyone has shown,” the site said. “The outpouring of love is just unbelievable. We are truly amazed, speechless and humbled by it.”

The site said Apodaca “passed away the morning of January 7, 2015, in a fatal car accident. For those that knew him, he was a beautiful soul that loved life. He had an infectious smile that would light up a room. He has left us way too soon, and we are unfortunate not to see him become the man he was on his way to becoming.”

An obituary on the funeral-service site Duggans-Serra.com described Apodaca as “loving art, playing sports and video games, but what he especially loved was making people laugh. Andre was charismatic (and) charming and had a witty sense of humor like no other.”

Apodaca graduated from South San Francisco High School in 2012 and was attending Skyline College in San Bruno, the obituary said.

“Last August, he started working at Facebook, an accomplishment he was so proud of,” the obituary also said. “During his time at Facebook, he would touch the lives of people he didn’t even know through his warm smile, kindness and willingness to help anyone.”

Dalisay could not immediately be reached for further comment.

In a Facebook post, Nate Nevado – an academic and career counselor at Skyline – remembered Apodaca as a student growing as a person. “You taught us that no matter what happens to us in the past, we have the ability to create new paths (and) to become the best version of ourselves that we can be,” Nevado wrote. “Although you’ve gone too soon, your memory will live on. This upcoming semester, I will dedicate my class in your name and share your insights to my new students.”

Anyone with information about the crash is asked to call Pacifica police at (650) 738-7314. – Rappler.com 

This story was republished with permission from Philippine News, a content partner of Rappler.