School Bus Crash

[Brefie]

I think if she had a state issued DL and proper insurance her status would be far less important.

As someone who would LOVE to open a no-kill dog shelter one day, I feel that 'some stray dog being run over' would be quite important. IN NO WAY even in the ball park of children, but certainly not to be dismissed.

 

[Trino]

I think if she had a state issued DL and proper insurance her status would be far less important.

I think her entire persona is what's important, and it includes an alias, no DL, no insurance, no regard for the law (previous conviction), immigrant status, and not telling the truth about the accident ("her version," yeah, right).

 

[Vegas Bride]

Maybe she never would have been living there if the processing plant didn't hire illegals?
What meat company was she working for? Do any of us buy it? If we do, then aren't we contributing to the problem?

VB

 

[Brefie]

I think her entire persona is what's important, and it includes an alias, no DL, no insurance, no regard for the law (previous conviction), immigrant status, and not telling the truth about the accident ("her version," yeah, right).

Um....good point!

 

[RhondaIL]

Maybe she never would have been living there if the processing plant didn't hire illegals?
What meat company was she working for? Do any of us buy it? If we do, then aren't we contributing to the problem?

VB

http://www.startribune.com/local/15823132.html

neighbors say works as a turkey processor at the Jenny-O plant in Montevideo, Minn.

I think the correct spelling is Jennie-O.

 

[Trino]

Maybe she never would have been living there if the processing plant didn't hire illegals?
What meat company was she working for? Do any of us buy it? If we do, then aren't we contributing to the problem?VB

She is now saying she worked for a cabinet company.

The employer may have been totoally innocent. False Social Security cards and/or false birth certificates are readily available in Minnesota and probably other states. The Feds know this and long ago should have gone after persons selling these documents.

She says she was born in Puerto Rico. Immigration has determined she is not from Puerto Rico and is not the person on the ID. She is not cooperating with her identity and has given officials next to nothing in information.

She did say, however, she stopped and "the bus came at her." The bus was on a major highway (23) and had no stop sign. The van driver and a car behind the bus both stated she did not stop.

 

[Trino]

Update:

The woman who had no license and refused to give her identiy in the killing of 4 children in a MN school bus crash has been identified. She is 24-year-old Olga Marina Franco, an illegal from Guatemala.

http://kstp.com/article/stories/S357435.shtml?cat=1


This is what it's like to drive in Guatamala.

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1129.html

"Traffic rules are only casually observed. Many drivers do not use their turn signals to alert other drivers. Instead, a common custom is for a driver or passenger to stick a hand out the window and wave it to indicate that they will be taking an unspecified action. Speed limits, lane markings and stop signs are frequently ignored. Passing blindly on winding and/or steep mountain roads, poorly designed surfaces, and unmarked hazards, including frequent landslides and precarious temporary highway repairs, present additional risks to motorists."

 

[Trino]

It's appears that I'm answering myself on the topic of the woman who ran a stop sign and plowed into a school bus, killing four young people. This update has not made the news. See thegullotine.com, which is a h.s. and college wrestling forum in MN. In addition to the four students who were killed, some are still hospitalized. This is the latest on one of those students.

"As many of you know about there was a bus accident by Cottonwood yesterday. Derek Varpness, Marshall/Lakeview's 112/119lber, was on that bus. He is now at Mckennan in Sioux Falls. He is the caringbridge web site for those who wants to follow his progress. He was flown there yesterday at about 5:30. He has 4 fractured ribs. They took out his spleen. He has a burst lung, a kidney that is damaged, a bad cut the went though all his back muscles, they gave him 5 unit of blood yesterday. They will be doing some more tests today to make sure they got the bleeding to stop and that there is not damage to his spinal core."

 

[Vegas Bride]

I was talking to my sister today who lives in Minn, her husband teaches at the school where the bus was from and 2 of the killed were students of his. She told me that the woman who's I.D. she had was found living in the east and had been in purtorico where her puse was stolen. Right now it's a good thing that driver is locked up for her own safety, her boyfriend who is also an illegal has not been found yet, he also had a fake I.D.

VB

 

[Taximom]

I'm reading here! Thanks for the updates.

 

[Amraann]

You can't get auto insurance without a valid driver's license so she doesn't have insurance. The owner of the car may have insurance if she is not the owner.

Insurance only covers licensed drivers.

 

[Woofie]

A man was driving the van that crashed with a bus near Cottonwood, killing four students, woman's attorneys say.
By PAM LOUWAGIE, Star Tribune
Last update: June 28, 2008 - 6:20 AM



MARSHALL, MINN. - DNA from the woman accused of being the driver of the van in the fatal Cottonwood school bus crash wasn't found on materials collected from the van's two front air bags, her attorneys said Friday.
Instead, the tests showed DNA from an unidentified male, they said.
The attorneys, speaking after a court hearing on the case here, said they consider the findings significant because they believe that had Olga Franco been the driver, her DNA would likely have been found on the driver's airbag.
More at the link:
http://www.startribune.com/local/22064439.html?location_refer=Homepage:highlightModules:5

 

[Lurker]

A man was driving the van that crashed with a bus near Cottonwood, killing four students, woman's attorneys say.
By PAM LOUWAGIE, Star Tribune
Last update: June 28, 2008 - 6:20 AM



MARSHALL, MINN. - DNA from the woman accused of being the driver of the van in the fatal Cottonwood school bus crash wasn't found on materials collected from the van's two front air bags, her attorneys said Friday.
Instead, the tests showed DNA from an unidentified male, they said.
The attorneys, speaking after a court hearing on the case here, said they consider the findings significant because they believe that had Olga Franco been the driver, her DNA would likely have been found on the driver's airbag.
More at the link:
http://www.startribune.com/local/22064439.html?location_refer=Homepage:highlightModules:5

What the?

 

[angelmom]

Probably the boyfriend was driving.

My totally-without-evidence prediction is that he is wanted on other charges and he left her there to take the heat. She may have thought she could lie her way out of it, but now doesn't know what to do without turning in her boyfriend.

Nice.

 

[Lurker]

Probably the boyfriend was driving.

My totally-without-evidence prediction is that he is wanted on other charges and he left her there to take the heat. She may have thought she could lie her way out of it, but now doesn't know what to do without turning in her boyfriend.

Nice.

You'd think that would've been mentioned by now. There were witnesses right? I would've thought someone would've either noticed him driving or running from the scene. Weird.

 

[angelmom]

Ha! Before I even read the article! (same link, though)

http://www.startribune.com/local/22064439.html?location_refer=Homepage:highlightModules:5

Franco has contended that her boyfriend, Francisco Sangabriel-Mendoza, was behind the wheel but fled after the crash. He has not been found.

Franco was in the passenger seat, her attorneys argue, and was thrown part way into the driver's seat on impact, resulting in an airbag hitting her only on the shoulder.

Defense attorney Manuel Guerrero, said a recent state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension report found that blood stains on both airbags came from an unidentified man. Cells from skin or spittle found on the passenger airbag belong to that same man, he said.

"It's our opinion that it was the boyfriend whose blood they found, as well as the skin cells on the airbags,'' Guerrero told reporters.

 

[deanws]

They STILL should keep her butt locked up for lying and trying to obstruct justice on this one.