Family Searching For Missing Twin After Deadly Orland Bus Crash

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A Southern California family is desperately trying to locate one of two identical twins who was on a bus that was involved in a fiery crash that killed 10 people.

Marisa Serrato, 17, has been missing since Thursday evening after a FedEx tractor-trailer slammed into the bus carrying 44 high school students headed to tour Humboldt State University, said her brother Miguel Serrato, 23.

The other twin, Marisol Serrato, was on a different bus that wasn't involved in the crash and made it safely to the school Friday.

Orland Bus Crash News

Serrato said a sheriff's deputy called his father at about 10:30 a.m. asking the family to collect Marisa's dental records because authorities believe she likely was killed.

"We're getting a little bit scared," Serrato said. He said his mother was booking a flight to head north.

The crash happened near Orland, a small city about 100 miles north of Sacramento.

Marisol was accepted to Humboldt State University, while Marisa was waitlisted there. The two Norte Vista High School seniors decided to check out the campus.

"My sisters are real religious, smart, A students," Miguel Serrato said. "They were going to get their high school diploma; they were looking toward the future."

Serrato said the Riverside family hasn't slept since learning about the crash on the news at their father's 65th birthday celebration the night before.

"We're trying to think positively," Miguel Serrato said. "I haven't gotten any sleep. I close my eyes and picture my little sister."

Marisa, or "Marisita" as the family calls her, was the baby of the family because she was born five minutes after her identical twin.

Norte Vista High Principal Susan Boyd said she's been in touch with Marisol Serrato since Thursday night, and counselors are at the school. Another Norte Vista student also was on the bus that crashed and is in stable condition at a hospital.

The school has not received any word on the missing twin, she said.

In Humboldt, Marisol has been trying to find her sister, calling around to hospitals for information, Miguel Serrato said.

"She says she believes that it's her fault because it was her idea to go check out that university," Serrato said. "She's devastated right now. I told her to keep her head up and have faith in God."

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press.