Neighbors In Shock Upon Learning Elk Grove Man's Part In Orland Crash
ELK GROVE (CBS13) – Investigators say the FedEx driver in Thursday's horrific crash was driving from Weed back to Sacramento-area where he lived.
The coroner has not officially released the FedEx driver's name, but the Sacramento Bee is reporting his name is Tim Evans.
Evans' next door neighbor says the man's family has been in and out, stopping by the home since the crash.
"It's just really sad, you know, 'cause he was so young," said Evan's neighbor Pamela Rappleye. "Everyone is just kind of numb, you know."
Rappleye says 32-year-old Evans loved his family.
"He was just a really nice guy … total family man," Rappleye said.
His neighbors are still in disbelief that Evans was one of ten killed in the fiery crash along Interstate 5 last week.
Investigators believe Evans crossed over the median and into oncoming traffic, hitting a tour bus full of high school students head-on.
"It's just a very sad situation and we really feel for the family," Rappleye said.
Evans leaves behind a wife and two young daughters.
"It just breaks my heart," Rappleye said. "We would see him out, playing with the girls and things like that."
Meanwhile, National Transportation Safety Board investigators are still trying to track Evan's final moments.
"We are going to go over that driver's last 72 hours, at least … looking at when they were at work, when rest took place, the cell phone use. Why is that important? Because in this case we don't have somebody to interview," said Mark Rosekind from NTSB.
The day before the crash, investigators say Evans made a FedEx delivery in Weed and was heading back to Sacramento when he collided with the bus.
A family member of Evans Declined to speak on camera with CBS13. But, Rappleye says she'll remember her neighbor as a loving father who was taken from his family too soon.
"A lot of people are praying for them and that's just what we are doing. We are just lifting them up in prayer and hoping that she gets the strength to get through this."
