Newlyweds on the way to the mountains for a honeymoon vacation killed in crash after semitruck overturns on I-70

Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite
Drivers head westbound on I-70, seen from the Elyria Swansea park built above the highway. June 30, 2023.

Associated Press

A newlywed couple and the bride's mother were killed in a crash after a semitruck overturned on Interstate 70 west of Denver just days after the wedding, family members said.

Ruben Rodriguez, 33; Juliana Rodriguez Plata, 37, and her mother, Luz Melba Martinez, who had traveled from Colombia for the Aug. 10 wedding, were killed in the crash Thursday morning.

The bride's father, Carlos Joaquin Plata, and the couple's 1-year-old son Danny were injured, Janell Rodriguez — Ruben Rodriguez's sister-in-law — told KMGH-TV.

The family was on the way to the mountains for a honeymoon vacation when the crash happened, Janell Rodriguez said.

The eastbound truck flipped over, spilling its load of large plastic pipes over the median into the westbound lanes, causing three vehicles to crash, Wheat Ridge police division chief Eric Kellogg said Thursday.

The family is still reeling.

“And then the baby without both of his parents, you know? It’s hard. It’s hard for the family. So we’re just gathered here right now just trying to be strong together,” Janell Rodriguez said.