Crash Kills New Groom, 2 Children

Four other members of Chicago family injured in Kentucky crash

A man who'd just gotten married last weekend and two of his family members were killed in an early morning crash on Interstate 65 south of Louisville, Ky.

Family members said 26-year-old Victor Chacon grew up in Chicago but lived in Florida, where he'd just gotten married.  He was helping family members with their drive back to the Chicago area.

The family's Nissan Pathfinder was rear-ended by a FedEx truck at about 3:30 Wednesday morning while traveling northbound on I-65 near Elizabethtown, authorities said.

The vehicle went off the road and rolled, ejecting Chacon and two of his relatives, 9-year-old Brianna Chacon and 11-year-old Tatyana Alvarez.  The Hardin County Coroner said none of them were wearing their seatbelts.

The driver, 30-year-old Melissa Gonzales, and Chacon's father, 49-year-old Victor "Senior" Chacon, were taken to University Hospital in Louisville.

At last check, Gonzales was listed in satisfactory condition and Chacon was in serious condition, hospital spokesman David McArthur told Louisville NBC affiliate WAVE-TV.

Two other children were also hospitalized: 5-year-old Victor "Junior" Chacon and 2-year-old Yanzylie Chacon.  Their conditions are unknown.

"Those kids are like my kids.  Those are my neices and nephews and I feel my friend's pain.  It's very very very hard," said Michelle La Luz, who said she's known Michelle Gonzales and new bride, Sophia, for about 15 years.

The driver of the FedEx truck, 31-year-old George Grimes Jr. from Louisville, was not injured. 

"Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families and friends affected by this morning's tragic accident.  Right now we have no information to release as we try to understand what happened.  We are cooperating fully with local authorities investigating the accident," said FedEx's Director of Corporate Communications, Maury Lane.

The Chacon family has opened an account at Fifth Third Bank for anyone who might be able to help them financiall.  The account number is 923 921 and is under the name Melissa Gonzalez.

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