WHARTON COUNTY, Texas – The Texas Department of Safety is investigating a crash that left two sisters and their aunt dead early Sunday morning.
The three women, Briana Hernandez, 20, Bianca Hernandez, 18, and Miranda Deases, 19, all from El Campo, died on Oct. 31, after their vehicle, a 2015 Kia Optima, overturned and crashed into a ditch on U.S. 59 at Hungerford.
The trio went out Saturday night to Eleven Eleven, a club in midtown Houston. It was an early birthday celebration for Bianca who would turn 18 on October 31.
“They got into a club, which I’m not even sure how because she wasn’t even 18 yet,” said Jessica Deases, mother of Briana and Bianca and sister of Miranda.
KPRC2 reached out to the nightclub for comment but did not hear back.
When the girls didn’t return home, their family thought they had decided to spend the night at a friend’s house. When they woke up Sunday morning and checked their phones again, they got worried.
“I did receive a call from my sister around 3:30 a.m. but I was asleep. My other daughter Briana as well she rang my phone too. I think she had OnStar and yelled ‘call mom’,” Deases told KPRC2.
In a Facebook post, a witness wrote that she called 911 after seeing a car leave the road on 59 near Hungerford early Sunday morning. “We pulled over searching for the car and yelled out if anybody was okay for about 10-15 minutes but wasn’t able to hear or find anybody because how dark it was,” the woman wrote.
The witness said police had not arrived by the time they left the scene, but that she called again around 1 p.m. Sunday to ask whether the car had been located and was told it had not been found.
The Wharton County Sheriff’s Office issued the following statement to KPRC2:
“At approximately 0337 hours, Wharton County Sheriff’s Office Telecommunications received a 911 call in reference to a minor accident on US Highway 59 Southbound, possibly near Hungerford. The caller reported that she witnessed a vehicle, “Run in to the ditch.” The caller also advised that when she went to check on the status of the driver, she was unable to locate the vehicle. She informed Dispatch that it was somewhere, “Before the Hungerford sign.” One of our Patrol Deputies responded. He arrived in the area at 0345 hours. He began checking the area of US 59 Southbound from the Ft. Bend County Line to the Loves Truck Stop in Hungerford. He checked the area multiple times. He remained in the area until 0438 hours. He was unable to locate the vehicle. The initial call was the only call for service the Sheriff’s Office received in reference to this accident at the time.
This call came in as a, “Vehicle in the Ditch” and not a major accident, so there was good reason to believe the vehicle was gone prior to the deputy arriving. Even with limited information, the deputy still checked the area for nearly an hour.
The vehicle was located behind some brush/trees adjacent to the railroad tracks and was very well hidden. Even in the broad daylight, no one called in the vehicle or the deceased persons until nearly 14 hours after the initial call for service. That goes to show how well the vehicle was hidden in the brush. It would’ve been nearly impossible for our deputy to locate the vehicle during the initial call for service due to the fact that the vehicle was so well hidden and that it was the middle of the night. The deputy also did not have an exact location of where the accident occurred.”
Investigators say around 5:30 p.m. Sunday rail road workers called 911 saying they had found three bodies in the brush next to the tracks. The women had been ejected from the car.
“They didn’t try to look and I believe that if they did try that at least one life could have been saved or all three of them. My three babies, they could have been saved,” Deases said.
The family believes more should have been done, putting blame on both the nightclub and law enforcement.
“The department didn’t do their job,” said Dagoberto Hernandez, father of Briana and Bianca.
Miranda leaves behind a young child. The family has set up a GoFundMe account to help cover funeral costs.
“It is with extremely heavy hearts that we are asking if y’all can find it in your hearts to please donate so we can lay these three beautiful girls to rest,” the organizer of the account, Skie Gonzales, wrote. “As one is very heartbreaking enough…we have suffered a huge loss with these three girls.”
A funeral date has not been set, according to Gonzales in a recent update.
Gonzales added that funds from the GoFundMe account will be used for funeral expenses for the three women and other costs. Donations are also accepted at Triska Funeral Home, located at 612 Merchant St. in El Campo.