Town grieves for Filipino-American father, 4 daughters killed in vehicular accident

TEANECK, New Jersey – The seats in the last pew at the Church of St. Anastasia here were empty during Sunday mass.

Two bouquets of flowers, five votive candles and two photos lined the bench where the Trinidad family usually sat, a memorial to a father and his four daughters who died in a car accident in Delaware on Friday while returning from a vacation in Maryland.

Audie Trinidad, 61, and his daughters Kaitlyn, 20; Danna, 17, and 14-year-old twins Allison and Melissa were killed when a Ford F-350 pickup truck veered out of its lane on State Route 1 and crossed the grassy median into oncoming traffic, striking the family’s minivan.

Mary Rose, the girls’ mother, remained in the hospital in serious condition Sunday. Delaware State Police are still investigating the crash.

The tragedy has stunned this town of 40,000, where the family was tightly woven into the community. Trinidad was an usher at his church. His daughters were volleyball players. The family was active in the Filipino American Society of Teaneck.

On Saturday more than 200 students, parents, family members and friends gathered at Votee Park.

The vigil had been planned by friends of the Trinidad children, who posted on Facebook and Instagram.

The memorial began with a prayer and song, as the aching chorus of “Amazing Grace” mixed with sorrowful sobs as neighbors and friends of the children shared memories.

In Manila, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) expressed its condolences for the deaths of five members of Trinidad family.

“The Philippine consulate general in New York wished to express its deepest condolences to the bereaved Trinidad family and joins the Filipino community in mourning the tragic loss of (their) exemplary members,” the consulate general said in a statement. – NYT News Service