I-395 crash survivor, 16, spent 2 weeks in hospital before family was notified
A Maryland family desperately tried to learn where a 16-year-old girl might be for two weeks after the girl was hospitalized by a crash on Interstate 395 in Virginia that killed three other teenagers.
According to Virginia State Police, four teens were in a stolen vehicle when police tried to pull over the vehicle, and the chase on I-395 in Northern Virginia ended in a crash. The teen driver sped onto I-395 northbound and tried to exit at high speed onto Shirlington Road before losing control. The car ran off the right side of the ramp and slammed into the jersey wall.
A 16-year-old girl, whom News4 is identifying only as Marta, was the only survivor.
A 17-year-old boy was pronounced dead at the scene, and two 16-year-old boys died at a hospital, authorities said.
Marta continues to recover from her injuries, but her family says they had to wait nearly two weeks for authorities to be able to identify her and contact them.
On the night of the crash, Marta’s sister told Telemundo 44, Marta had her mother’s permission to go meet a friend. She later got into a vehicle with three other young people. Her family says she did not know the vehicle had been reported stolen.
“We started looking for her after the crash because we were sure it was her,” Marta’s sister said. “She called us from the phone of the friend who was driving. She called us at 12:02 a.m., and the crash happened at 12:45 a.m.”
“I remember she told them to take her home already, but they said they were going to go do other things and then they would bring her back here. That’s when the officer recognized them and started following them. She says she grabbed onto the seat and kept telling them to stop, that she wanted to get out, because she felt something was wrong, that something was going to happen to her,” Marta’s sister said.
She said it was a miracle Marta survived.
On Saturday — nearly two weeks after the crash — the family said they finally received a call from the hospital, asking them to come in to identify her.
NBC4’s sister station, Telemundo 44, asked Virginia Hospital Center for an explanation of its patient identification protocols and why, according to the family, 12 days passed without them being able to locate and identify the minor. So far, we have not received an official response.
For its part, Prince George’s County police told Telemundo 44 the following in a statement: “As part of a missing person investigation here in Prince George’s County, the Prince George’s County Police Department shared information with the family of the missing teenager — information that was provided to us by our law enforcement partners at the Virginia State Police.”
Telemundo 44 also requested additional details from Virginia state police. They told us three teenagers died and a 16-year-old girl remained hospitalized.
The department added that the vehicle was stolen, the driver did not have a license, and none of the four occupants was wearing a seat belt. Virginia State Police clarified the teenager who survived the crash is from Prince George’s County.
