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A UC Berkeley who mysteriously went missing during a party at a USC frat over the weekend was killed on the 10 freeway not long after the party, authorities say.Elio Vasquez, 19, was last seen at a party in the 600 block of West 28th Street around 1:30 a.m. early on Saturday. He called a friend around 2:15 a.m. saying that he was lost and scared. CHP officials told the Los Angeles Times that they have identified Vasquez as a man who tried running across the eastbound lanes of the 10 freeway east near Vermont Avenue not long after that call—just before 2:30 a.m.
CHP Officer Ramberto Salcido says a car driving 60 mph in the No. 4 lane hit him. Salcido says, "He was unable to avoid the pedestrian."
He was pronounced dead at the scene that was about a mile from the party. He had no money or identification on him, which he left at the party. His family was notified earlier this morning.
Vazquez, a soccer player at UC Berkeley, came down to Los Angeles for spring break with some friends and he was unfamiliar with the area. When he left the party, he said only that he wanted to go on a walk and go to the beach. Family from his native Berkeley came down to help out with a search and even upped a reward to $100,000 to help find Vazquez. They said it was unusual that he would disappear like that.
