OKLAHOMA,Couple with Oklahoma ties among California wreck victims

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http://newsok.com/couple-with-oklahoma-ties-among-california-wreck-victims/article/3514942Couple with Oklahoma ties among California wreck victims Five people were killed in a California wreck involving a motorcycle club. Two of the victims had Oklahoma ties.
BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Associated Press Published: November 18, 2010
SAN DIEGO — Two of the five people killed in a crash involving a California motorcycle club had Oklahoma ties.
Advertisement Amy Heath, 36, and Lance Heath, 43, of Alpine, Calif., were killed when a car slammed into a group of motorcycles Saturday about 80 miles east of San Diego.
Amy Heath's mother, Carol Godwin of Thomas, said her daughter was born and raised in Oklahoma and moved to California with Lance Heath after they met at Panhandle State University in Goodwell.
Carl Smith, president of the Saddletramps Motorcycle Club, said the group of 21 riders on about a dozen motorcycles was on a 10th anniversary outing. Three riders were seriously injured.
Smith told the San Diego Union-Tribune it took about a half-hour for paramedics to arrive because the wreck site was in the remote Imperial Valley.
Carlos Ramirez Bobadilla, 36, of Mexicali, Mexico, was arrested Saturday for investigation of misdemeanor drunken driving. He was released from custody but remained hospitalized, California Highway Patrol officer DeAnn Goudie said.
The wreck killed Bobadilla's passenger, Ana Lilia Gonzalez, 31, of Mexicali, Mexico. Two motorcycle riders in addition to the Heaths died: George William Miller, 57, of Ramona and Tonya Beth Trayer, 37, of El Cajon.
Investigators searched for a second motorist after determining Bobadilla was not at fault for the crash, Goudie said.
They are trying to determine if the driver of a gold Honda Civic thought responsible fled into Mexico.
The driver was trying to pass a line of motorcycles on state Route 98 but lacked clearance to get back into the right lane and drove head-on toward Bobadilla's car, Goudie said.
Bobadilla's car veered onto the right shoulder but he overcorrected to the left and smashed into the motorcycles head-on, she said.
“He was just trying to avoid (the other car). It's not his fault,” Goudie said.
Bobadilla still might face DUI charges if his blood-alcohol level exceeded the legal limit, Goudie said.
None of the motorcyclists got the license plate number of the Honda and none chased it