At approximately 11:15a.m., on Dec. 9, BurgerQue owner, Timothy Mankin, 50, of Ft. Myers, was driving a Toyota SUV in the westbound lanes of Interstate 10 in Orange County, Texas. A crash two miles ahead was slowing traffic and Mankin failed to notice the 18-wheeler in front of him had come to a stop, and he rear-ended the truck.
Mankin was pronounced dead at the scene.
The front passenger, 29-year-old Brittaney Triglia, and 63-year-old Maria Triglia, both of Fort Myers, were transported to a local hospital with serious injuries and pronounced dead by emergency room personnel a short time later.
The driver of the 18-wheeler, a 33-year-old Virginia resident, was not injured in the crash.