Two infants found alive in family’s SUV after deadly crash, NC Highway Patrol says
.png "An investigation revealed Aljon Salvador Aguelo and Maricel Nano Aquino were traveling through the Ronda area of Wilkes county when their SUV collided with a tractor trailer, investigators say.")
Troopers searching the scene of a deadly crash in Wilkes County discovered two infants were the only survivors in a family’s SUV, according to the North Carolina Highway Patrol.
The crash happened around 8 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 17, at a rural intersection in the Ronda community, officials said.
A man and woman identified as Aljon Salvador Aguelo, 34, and Maricel Nano Aquino, 35, were found dead in the SUV, troopers said.
An investigation revealed Aguelo was driving the Toyota RAV4 west on Hunting Creek Road when he reached the Somers Road intersection and collided with a tractor-trailer, officials said.
“Two infant children who were also passengers in the Toyota RAV4 were transported by ground to Brenner’s Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries,” officials said. “The driver of the Western Star tractor-trailer, Blake Arden Graham, was not injured.”
Details of the children’s injuries were not released.
An investigation revealed the SUV “failed to yield the right of way” ahead of the crash, troopers said.
A GoFundMe campaign reports the couple’s family is trying to raise money for a funeral and to support their children “who are now left without parents.”
“The crash has forever changed our lives, and we are now facing urgent and unexpected financial needs,” the campaign organizers say.
Ronda is about a 125-mile drive west from Durham.
This story was originally published November 18, 2025 at 7:41 AM with the headline "Two infants found alive in family’s SUV after deadly crash, NC Highway Patrol says."