A husband, his wife, and their five-year-old boy have died in a horrific car accident on a Tennessee interstate.
Santos Morales, his wife Magdalena, and their son Santos Ennrique, who just graduated Kindergarten, were headed back from a trip to Louisville, Kentucky, when a wrong-way driver hit their Subaru head-on.
Arely Cruz Morales, the family's niece, said she cannot believe three members of her family were taken from her in an instant, per WMC.
'The day of the accident, they were coming back to Memphis, but they didn't get a chance to make it to their house before the accident had happened,' said Cruz Morales.
She said her uncle had just begun a new job in Louisville. The family was driving back to Memphis to finalize their move and obtain a new passport for their five-year-old son, Santos Enrique.
Santos Morales (right), his wife Magdalena (left), and their son Santos Ennrique (middle), who just graduated Kindergarten, were headed back from a trip to Louisville, Kentucky , when a wrong-way driver hit their Subaru head-on.
The family was driving back to Memphis to finalize their move and obtain a new passport for their son as the father had just begun a new job in Louisville
Cruz Morales said the family also planned to vacation over the summer.
Memphis police report a devastating head-on collision on I-240 westbound early Wednesday morning.
A driver in a Dodge Durango traveled eastbound in the westbound lanes, striking the Morales' Subaru.
The impact tragically claimed the lives of all occupants in both vehicles.
'It's pretty hard taking it all in at once. Because it's not just one person, it's three,' said Cruz Morales.
'We did have more heartbreak when it came to his son. Because he was so young.'
She added that her uncle was a family man, and always put his wife and kids before everything, and maintained a positive, motivational attitude.
'My uncle and his wife were always the ones encouraging us, motivating us.
'Our inspiration to keep on, being the best person to keep on,' said Cruz Morales.
She said as her family tries to move forward, they are now faced with the challenge of getting all three bodies to Mexico for a burial ceremony.
'It does complicate a few things to bring them back home and ship their bodies to get the proper burial where our family is at,' Cruz Morales said.
The impact tragically claimed the lives of all occupants in both vehicles
The family were headed back from a trip to Louisville, Kentucky, on May 29 when they were struck by the driver traveling the wrong way on the interstate
The bereft niece said her family wants to remember her uncle, aunt, and cousin as they were before they were tragically killed.
'And as close as we were to him, it's a hole that's gone right now,' she said. 'But we know we have the good memories, the laughter, the pictures, the videos to always look back to.'
Cruz said her family is in the process of finalizing funeral arrangements quickly because of the injuries her relatives sustained in the accident.
She has set up a GoFundMe to help with funeral costs.