Teenagers killed in crash identified Vehicle caught fire after crashing on South Taft Hill Road

The Larimer County Coroner’s Office identified the three teenagers killed in a crash in Fort Collins last week.

The three victims were 19-yearold Jaquelin Galvan, 19-year-old Natalie Palaxios Mendoza and 18-year-old Alexsandra Fragoso. Galvan and Fragoso were both from Fort Collins while Mendoza was from Loveland.

All three died from multiple blunt force injuries caused by the crash, according to the coroner’s office release.

At 2:27 a.m. Feb. 15, a Larimer County Sheriff’s Office deputy located a 2013 Volkswagen Jetta on fire in the middle of the road in the 5800 block of South Taft Hill Road, according to a previous release from the Fort Collins Police Services. The deputy was able to see there were two people who appeared to be dead inside the vehicle, the release added.

Poudre Fire Authority responded to put out the fire out and FCPS officers responded to investigate. Officers on scene were able to locate a third person in the backseat of the Jetta, according to the release.

Due to the severity of the crash, the Fort Collins Police Collision Reconstruction and Scene Handling Team responded to look into the crash. Investigators determined that the Jetta was traveling south on Taft Hill Road when it drifted onto the shoulder and hit an unoccupied 2009 Chevy Silverado 3500 that had broken down and been parked on the shoulder, the release said.

FCPS did not include information on how the vehicle caught fire, but added PFA assisted investigators in extricating the three people from the vehicle.