The father of two sisters killed in a fiery crash in Brampton on Thanksgiving made a public plea for a speeding driver to come forward.
The driver, who is believed to have been racing the driver of a Trans Am when the Trans Am lost control and smashed into a car carrying the sisters, is being sought by police.
“Show some courage and show up, just for my girls,” Darin Bouchard told CTV Toronto. “There’s not going to be total closure, my wife and I both know that. But just show up, whether it’s with a lawyer or whoever.”
Lauren and Michelle Bouchard, 22 and 16 respectively, along with Lauren’s 24-year-old boyfriend Brian McGinnis, were driving home from a Thanksgiving dinner in Georgetown on Oct. 10 when the Kia Soul McGinnis was driving east on Bovaird Drive was struck by an oncoming vehicle.
The other vehicle was a 1998 Pontiac Trans Am travelling in the opposite direction at a high rate of speed. Investigators said it suddenly changed lanes at around 8:45 p.m., jumped over a median and slammed into the Kia. The driver of the Trans Am, 49-year-old Calisto Mendonca, was also killed.
“Tragically both cars erupted into fire within four or five seconds of the impact and all four people died,” Staff Sgt. Gary Carty told CTV Toronto. Bystanders tried to reach the victims, but couldn’t get past the intense flames.
“It seems like such a stupid, senseless act,” Bouchard said. “They didn’t stand a chance.”
‘We don’t wish this on anyone’
Bouchard said his daughters were “beautiful” and “couldn’t do enough” for the people around them.
He said the young couple had been dating for three years and that McGinnis was “really good to her” and helped her come out of her shell a little bit.
They were both interred earlier on Thursday.
“We don’t wish this on anyone,” Bouchard said. “It’s been hard.”
Meanwhile, McGinnis’ grandmother said “everything” went through her mind when she got the news.
“How would you face stuff like this? My grandson is gone. How could you face stuff like this?” Blanch Hillyard told CP24.
On Wednesday police said that they are looking into the possibility that Mendonca may have been racing another vehicle at the time and changed lanes abruptly to avoid another car.
“Video that we’ve obtained from the scene has confirmed in our minds exactly what happened,” Carty said.
Surveillance video obtained by police shows a second vehicle travelling alongside the Trans Am at a high rate of speed prior to the crash.
“One witness says it’s probably the fastest driving he’s seen,” Carty said.
Police have said that it is “very likely” the driver of the other vehicle, described as a two-door newer model sports car, is aware of the fatal collision and they are now asking for that person to come forward.
Bouchard said investigators came to him and his wife several days ago to tell them they believed Mendoca and another unknown driver were street racing at the time of the collision.
“We were trying to give (the driver) the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he had a heart condition; maybe he had a stroke or something else behind the wheel. And then to get this type of information, you think ‘oh my God, he was street racing at age 49’.”
Police are also appealing for witnesses as well.
“We’re appealing to anybody who may have been anywhere in the Bovaird-Hurontario area on Thanksgiving night around 8:30 to contact us, no matter what information you think you have,” Carty said. “It may be that gem that we’re looking for.”
