Two Little Sisters Were Victims In Tragic Crash Of Car Into Petaluma River [UPDATE]

SONOMA COUNTY, CA – The Sonoma County Coroner’s Office has identified the victims involved in today's vehicle accident in the Petaluma River as two sisters from Rohnert Park.

Delilah Gonzalez, 9, and Sayra Gonzalez, 7, were killed when a vehicle they were riding in overturned and went into the Petaluma River shortly after 8 a.m., according to the department.

The girls' mother was driving on Petaluma Boulevard North when the vehicle went off the road and down an embankment south of Gossage Avenue. The mother escaped from the vehicle.The sisters were taken to Petaluma Valley Hospital, where they were pronounced dead.

California Highway Patrol Officer Steve Fricke confirmed the two children were in the vehicle that crashed, prompting the closure of the northbound lane of Petaluma Boulevard North between Gossage Avenue and Skillman Lane.

The roadway was reopened in both directions around 2 p.m., according to the Petaluma Police Department

The incident first was reported around 8:10 a.m. to REDCOM, the Sonoma County Fire and Emergency dispatch center, a dispatcher said.

A chaplain and the Sonoma County District Attorney's Office also were called to the scene, according to the CHP.

The CHP is investigating the collision.

This is the second tragedy in a little more than a week involving Sonoma County children killed when cars went into water. Two young Jenner girls, Kaitlyn Markus, 6, and Hailey Markus, 4, died when their mother's Ford F-250 truck drove off wet southbound state Highway 1 and down an embankment into the Russian River.

In that Aug. 23 crash, their 32-year-old mother kicked out a window in the truck and tried to remove her daughters in the back seat but the truck sank quickly in 15-20 feet of water, according to the California
Highway Patrol.

See article from Aug. 24: Officials Identify Sisters, 6 and 4, Who Died In Russian River Tragedy.

• Also see: See Dramatic Videos Of Tuesday Afternoon Brush Fire Near Hwy 12

--Bay City News contributed to this report/Image via Patch files