Teen girl killed during drag race near Cloverdale ID'd

A teenage girl killed while watching a drag race on a street just outside Cloverdale on Friday night was identified by the Sonoma County coroner's office Tuesday as 16-year-old Angelica Contreras.

Contreras was sitting on a concrete embankment when one of the racing cars slammed into it that night, launching her 150 feet into a creek bed. No other spectators or the racers alerted investigators she had been there and her body was not discovered until the following morning, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The crash was reported at 10:20 p.m. on Crocker Road just east of the bridge into Cloverdale. A 16-year-old driving a 1998 Volkswagen bug had been racing with a 17-year-old driving a 2008 BMW 535i sedan west toward the city.

As they approached the bridge at about 50 mph, the Volkswagen driver lost control of the car and slammed into the concrete barrier where three teen girls, including Contreras, had been sitting.

Contreras was hit and thrown toward the riverbank. The BMW driver veered off into a dirt turnout.

CHP officers arrived shortly after that and called the teens' parents, who arrived and took responsibility for their children. Investigators do not suspect alcohol was a factor in the collision.

But no one at the crash scene informed the investigators that Contreras had been there, and her body was not discovered until 7 a.m. Saturday by a passerby who found it in a creek bed.

Both vehicles involved in the collision have been impounded as evidence while the CHP, the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office and the Sonoma County District Attorney's Office conduct an investigation.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the investigation is ongoing and there have been no arrests, according to the CHP.