2 people killed after cars go over cliffs on Highway 1
Over-the-cliff car crashes on Highway 1 in Big Sur claimed the lives of two drivers within one week.
A man died on June 8 when the 2014 Jeep Cherokee he was driving went over a 300-foot cliff approximately 10 miles north of the border between San Luis Obispo and Monterey counties, just south of Gorda Mountain, according to reports from Monterey CHP and Big Sur Fire.
CHP Officer Jessica Madueño said Wednesday morning that their office received a call at about 10:18 a.m. about a vehicle that had gone over the cliff. She said the vehicle, which is registered in Texas, was traveling northbound, crossed the double-yellow lines and into the southbound lane before plunging down the side of the cliff.
Madueño confirmed that the male driver was the only fatality in the vehicle collision. His name is being withheld until the Monterey County Coroner’s office has been able to notify the next of kin.
The CHP is continuing to investigate the cause of the crash.
“This was the second fatality we have responded to in less than a week,” Big Sur Fire said via Facebook, noting that one fatal crash involved “a local, and much loved, resident.”
The department said the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office, Cal Fire, Monterey County Search and Rescue, CHP and U.S. Forest Service were instrumental in a successful recovery.
On June 2, a crash near Coast Gallery, about 41 miles north of the county line, claimed the life of Jenn Sorensen of Big Sur, according to details from CHP and a GoFundMe page paying tribute to her.
Ramon Duran, a organizer of the GoFundMe fundraiser campaign, said that about 3:45 p.m. June 2 in Big Sur, “there was a report to the police that a vehicle had gone off a cliff falling 700 feet. The vehicle was found flipped upside-down with her dog Peachy, who suffered a broken leg from the fall.”
The GoFundMe page said police confirmed the fatality about an hour later.
According to Madueno, the vehicle involved in the deadly crash was a 1997 Jeep Cherokee. The CHP officer said Sorenson wasn’t wearing a seatbelt and was ejected from the vehicle along with her dog.
According to GoFundMe organizers, the $16,000 raised by supporters will help pay for Sorensen’s service and veterinary bills for the dog she adored. As of June 10, the organizers had disabled new donations to the fundraiser.
