State police are searching for the driver of a silver BMW convertible allegedly involved in Friday’s fiery collision on I-270 that killed two teenagers.
The BMW was found abandoned near the site of the crash that occurred before 5 a.m. on northbound Interstate 270 and Falls Road and resulted in the deaths of Luis Isaac Bran, 17, of Gaithersburg and Rebeca Gabriela Vasquez Moreno, 18, from El Salvador, police said Friday in a statement.
The teens were pronounced dead at the scene by Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service (MCFRS) crews, according to state police and MCFRS spokesperson Pete Piringer.
The teens were passengers in a 2018 Toyota RAV4 driven by Esperanza Del Carmen Vasquez De Bran, 50, also of Gaithersburg, believed to be Luis Bran’s mother and Moreno’s aunt, police said in a statement.
De Bran was injured in the crash and transported by ambulance to Suburban Hospital in Bethesda.
According to state police, the Toyota and a 2003 BMW silver convertible were “traveling north on I-270 when the BMW struck the rear of the Toyota and left the scene.”
A 2015 Ford F-150 pickup truck then rear-ended the Toyota, which was on fire when first responders arrived. The driver of the Ford refused medical treatment and investigators do not believe alcohol was a factor in the secondary crash, state police said.
After the crash, investigating officers found the BMW abandoned and disabled on the right shoulder approximately half a mile north of the crash site, the statement said.
Northbound lanes of I-270 were closed for about six hours following the collision.
As of Monday morning, a GoFundMe fundraiser established for the teens by their families to help cover funeral expenses had raised about $25,000, surpassing a goal of $20,000.
According to the GoFundMe page, Luis was “picking up his cousin Rebeca who was visiting from El Salvador” when the crash occurred.
Luis was “a vibrant, kind-hearted young man who had his whole ahead of him. His smile could light up a room and his dreams were as big as his heart,” his family wrote.
State police ask anyone with information about the crash to call the Rockville Barrack at 301-424-2101.
