Friends of three UC Berkeley graduate students killed in a fiery highway crash held back tears Thursday as they asked anyone with information about the accident to come forward.
A handful of classmates and co-workers joined the California Highway Patrol for a press conference in front of two mangled vehicles involved in the July 16 accident.
"Many good witnesses have come forward, but we feel we haven't heard from everyone," CHP Officer Trenton Cross said.
Benjamin Boussert, 27, of Oakland, Giulia Adesso, 26, of Berkeley and Jason Choy, 29, of Kensington were killed on Interstate 80 when a westbound big rig, hit by another car, smashed through the center divider and struck their eastbound Toyota about 2:30 a.m., the CHP said.
The big rig's fuel tank ruptured, and the Toyota caught fire, killing all three students.
Several cars were involved in the accident. Witnesses told police a group of vehicles were driving erratically in the westbound lanes when one of the vehicles collided with the big rig, sending it into the divider.
Bryce Sadtler, who worked closely with Boussert and Adesso, had ridden with them to a San Francisco bar the night of the crash. He took a cab home after meeting a friend and separating from the group.
"You never know what decisions you make will change things," he said. "It's hard to find out that while I was going to bed, thinking they were safely home, they were in this accident."
The three victims were completing graduate studies at Berkeley's chemistry department.
Christine Micheel worked with the victims in a research group. "With the work you're doing and the time you spend together you become like family," she said. "Everyone wants to know what happened."
She described Adesso, a visiting Italian student, as flamboyant and loving with an incredible sense of style.
Friend Steven Damu said Choy was the hardest working person he ever met and that Boussert had an impeccable moral character. "They weren't the type of people you met every day," he said.
Mike Puglia said Boussert became his "first friend" when he was 3 years old. "It's a tragedy. They didn't deserve what happened to them," he said. "Now, at least they deserve justice."
No arrests have been made, but Cross said authorities are conducting a criminal investigation and the persons responsible could face charges of vehicular manslaughter or murder.
"We need the public's help to find the other vehicles that were driving recklessly prior to the crash," Cross said. "We need to give the victims' friends and family some closure -- they deserve to know everything that happened that night."
Anyone with information about the accident can contact the CHP's Oakland office at 510-450-3821 or the CHP tip line at 800-TELL-CHP.
Distributed by the Associated Press
