A family is in mourning, left with many questions after their loved one was killed in a double-tractor trailer crash on Interstate 84 in Ashford last Thursday.
State police said Carlos Vega, 45, was killed after traveling eastbound in the center lane on I-84 at the Ashford-Union line around 2 a.m., and "veered right for an unknown reason," hitting another truck in the right lane.
The two trucks barreled off the road, into a guardrail, and plummeted into Morey Pond, according to troopers.
Vega's truck came to a stop upside down in the water. The father of two from Hartford was killed.
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His daughters, Brooklyn, 18, and Dayana, 15, along with their mother Natalie, sat down with NBC Connecticut on Wednesday ahead of Vega's memorial service.
They said he was a devoted girl dad. Brooklyn, who attends college in New York City, said he had an extra special relationship with her younger sister who's in high school.
“That was her partner in crime. They did everything together," she said. “The thing about Thursday is that Thursday was my dad’s day. He would go pick up my sister, he would call me, so I’d catch him up on my week."
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But last Thursday is when their lives changed. They said they're struggling with the circumstances around the crash.
"[We have] a lot of questions. We need answers. Unfortunately, we don’t have a lot of answers being told right now," Natalie Rodriguez said. "He knew the risk with driving trucks. It’s still baffling to us right now because he tried so hard to always be safe, to always make it home for these girls, and he always said that."
The family said Vega always preached safe driving and had a clean driving record.
“My dad was a phenomenal driver. That’s the thing. He genuinely was a phenomenal driver," Brooklyn Vega said. “It’s why this hurts a lot. It’s why everyone, everyone’s confused.”
State police said Wednesday there was no update to the investigation. The Vegas said there were cameras on the Ryder truck he was driving, and hope that will provide some answers.
The family was told the investigation could take months.
"I know in time that we’ll figure out how this happened, how these two trucks collided, how they ended up in the water," Natalie said. “It’s one of those things you don’t fathom and you don’t imagine."
Vega was about to start on a new journey this week, making matters worse, and the family wondering what if.
“That’s my dad’s route. My dad has been doing that for months now. That was his route. This week he was supposed to change his route to a new one," Brooklyn said. "But we didn’t get that far.”
