Six victims of recent fatal crashes identified

Authorities have publicly identified six victims of recent fatal San Diego County traffic collisions.

The most recent involved a hit-and-run that took place on Sea World Drive shortly before 12:30 a.m. last Saturday, according to San Diego police and the county Medical Examiner’s Office. When emergency personnel arrived at the site of the crash, one of the two involved motorists had fled, officials said.

About 12 hours later, officers investigating the accident found the body of 61-year-old Celeste Necochea amid trees and shrubbery alongside the roadway, authorities reported. Investigators believe that Necochea had been riding in one of the cars that crashed in the area the previous night.

On Aug. 29, a wreck on Interstate 5 in the Nestor area left 38-year-old Javier Oceguera Jr. of San Diego dead. Oceguera was heading south on the freeway at about 6 p.m. when the sedan he was driving veered off the roadway near Tocayo Avenue. It struck a tree and caught fire. Oceguera died at the scene.

About 4 p.m. on Aug. 28, Arturo Flores, 44, was riding in a pickup truck that crashed and overturned on state Route 78 in Ramona, the medical examiner reported. Flores died before paramedics could take him to a hospital.

About 10:15 p.m. on Aug. 24, Maria Mercado Alvarez, 62, was hit by several vehicles while apparently walking in the roadway on Home Avenue in City Heights, according to the county agency. She died at the scene.

Shortly before 4:30 a.m. the previous day, 24-year-old Miguel Mozo was driving a sedan that struck a light pole and overturned on Melrose Drive in his hometown of Vista. He died at the site of the crash.

At about 3 p.m. on Aug. 20, Kevin Luis, 43, was fatally injured when the pickup truck he was driving veered off westbound state Route 905 near Picador Boulevard in Otay Mesa and struck a disabled transit bus on the shoulder of the freeway, the medical examiner reported. He died at the scene of the wreck.