Man who died after driving off cliff in Big Sur has been identified
Update, July 31
The Monterey County Coroner’s Office identified the man who drove his car over a cliff in Big Sur and died Saturday as 39-year old Anthony Hernandez Jr. of Salinas, according to The Salinas Californian.
Hernandez was headed northbound on Highway 1 when he reportedly lost control of his vehicle on a curve and subsequently drove off the cliff.
Original Story:
An unidentified 39-year-old man died Saturday morning after driving his car over a cliff in Big Sur.
The California Highway Patrol responded to a report of a white vehicle at the bottom of a cliff along Highway 1, between Willow Creek and Los Burros roads near Gorda, shortly before 9 a.m.
Authorities located a white 2012 Chevrolet Cruze approximately 280 feet down a rugged cliff along the Big Sur coastline, according to a news release from the CHP.
A CHP H-70 helicopter was requested for aerial support, but heavy fog prevented access to the area, officials said.
The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue team and the Big Sur Fire Brigade also responded to the scene, and located the deceased man.
CHP’s initial investigation showed the vehicle was traveling northbound on Highway 1, and the driver “was unable to negotiate the right curve in the roadway.”
He then crossed the double yellow lines into the southbound lane and went directly off the cliff, the release said.
The Monterey County Coroner’s Office is in the process of identifying the man and notifying next of kin, officials said.
The crash came 16 days after Angela Hernandez, an Oregon woman who had been missing for seven days, was found alive at the bottom of a cliff in Big Sur.
CHP officials said Hernandez was found approximately 6 miles north of Saturday’s crash site.
This story was originally published July 28, 2018 at 10:38 AM.