Family of Greyhound Bus crash victim speaks out

Relatives of Maria de Jesus Ortiz Velasquez are mourning their loss, shaken and clearly emotional over her death.

“We’re heartbroken, tormented, I don’t know what else to say how we’re feeling,” said Irvin Ibarra, Velasquez’s grandson.

After hearing about the Greyhound bus crash in San Jose for the first time on the news, Ibarra said he went to the 76-year-old’s Salinas home to check on her, knowing she was traveling on a Greyhound bus.

“I came and I didn’t see her,” said Ibarra.

After many phone calls and searching for her in San Jose hospitals, Ibarra got a call confirming she was one of two passengers on the bus who died.

“I was in shock, I don’t believe it, I still don’t believe it,” said Ibarra.

Heading back to Salinas from Tijuana, Mexico, Velasquez’s family said she had a suspicion about the trip.

“She already said that her death was going to be on that particular bus, she felt it,” said Ibarra. “She felt her death and she didn’t want to get on that bus.”

Greyhound says another woman also was killed and nine people were hurt.

Several passengers have said the driver fell asleep at the wheel.

Velasquez’s family members said they’ve reached out to Greyhound multiple times but they’re calls have not been returned.

“When I called them they were very rude about everything,” said Ibarra. “They didn’t want to provide information.”

Greyhound says the company plans to contact Velasquez’s’s family and is working closely with the California Highway Patrol, as the cause is still under investigation.

She had six kids and many grandchildren.

Her family says she loved to garden, was very social and a woman who had lots of faith and wisdom.