Man and Teen Killed, Another Man Badly Hurt As Car Slams Into Tree in Angeles National Forest Above Altadena

[UPDATED] A 21-year-old man and a 17-year-old boy died and another man was severely injured after a car veered off the roadway and slammed into a tree deep in the Angeles National Forest north of Altadena on Thursday morning, authorities said.

The crash was first reported to authorities about 1:50 a.m. along mile marker 50 of Angeles Crest Highway, near the Chilao Campground, but the crash scene wasn’t discovered until after 4 a.m. by a Los Angeles County Fire Department Helicopter near mile marker 56.63, according to California Highway Patrol officials and logs.

Paramedics pronounced two passengers dead at the scene, Officer E. Voss of the CHP’s Altadena Station said.

They were identified as Edwin Salguero, 21, and Jonathan Salguero, 17, both of South El Monte, Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner spokeswoman Sarah Ardalani said. It was not immediately clear whether they were family members.

The driver of the vehicle, also described as a 21-year-old man from South El Monte, was hospitalized with “major internal injuries,” according to Voss.

He was at the wheel of a 2006 Acura RSX that was heading west at an unknown speed when, “For unknown reasons, the driver of the Acura lost control of his vehicle as he exited a right curve,” the officer said.

“The Acura traveled across a dirt and gravel shoulder and its right side struck two trees simultaneously,” Voss said.

The cause of the crash remained under investigation.

“It is unknown if alcohol and/or drugs were a factor in this collision,” Voss said.

Officials shut down Angeles Crest Highway at the crash site for about three hours as they investigated the scene.

Anyone with information, or anyone with information, was asked to call the CHP’s Altadena Office at (626) 296-8100.

#BREAKING 2 killed, 1 hospitalized after car slams into tree off Angeles Crest Highway in L.A. County, CHP says https://t.co/RglxT1xJJX

— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) July 29, 2021