SALT LAKE CITY (NewsNation Now) — A 26-year-old Salt Lake City woman was driving home from her wedding when she was hit and killed by a wrong-way driver charged with DUI, authorities said.
The head-on crash happened after 1 a.m. Saturday near Salt Lake City, according to the Utah Department of Public Safety.
Family members tell NewsNation affiliate KTVX Angelica Dhondup, a mother of three, was newly married to her high school sweetheart.
“They both enjoyed and loved each other,” her cousin Curtis Dorsey-Maestas told KTVX. “You want to give them one of the best weddings you know. She was absolutely beautiful.”
Authorities say the wrong-way driver, 36-year-old Manaure Gonzalez-Rea, and a passenger in his pickup were assisted by a passerby on the scene. Gonzalez-Rea then stole the passersby’s pickup before troopers quickly arrested him. The passenger also ran away before returning to the scene, according to a release from the department.
Gonzalez-Rea now faces several charges including automobile homicide, theft and DUI.
The bride’s family, heading home form the same event, was traveling in the same area and were notified of the accident on the scene, authorities said. A passenger in her car was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
NewsNation affiliate KTVX contributed to this report.