Crash victims in identification mix-up

PHOENIX, July 25 (UPI) -- Two women involved in an Arizona car crash, one dead and one hospitalized in critical condition, were misidentified, authorities said.

Abby Guerra, 19, was thought to have died at the scene 50 miles west of Glendale, Ariz., when a sport utility vehicle carrying five friends back from a trip to Disneyland blew a tire and crashed, The Arizona Republic reported Thursday.

A woman thought to be Marlena Cantu, 21, was in critical condition in St. Joseph's Hospital in Phoenix with a brain injury, broken back and a collapsed lung, the newspaper said.

After nearly a week, it was determined it was Cantu who died in the crash and Guerra who remained in critical condition in the hospital.

Another passenger, Tyler Parker, 20, died a day after the accident and the remaining two passengers were also taken to a hospital with severe head injuries.

Friends of Cantu kept vigil outside the hospital room unaware the woman laying there was Guerra.

"You're not looking for differences," Colleen Donovan said. "It didn't look like anyone I'd ever seen."

The mistake was traumatic for Cantu's parents, Donovan said.

"Every day they went (to the hospital) having hope that she's living one more day, then to find out it's not her," she said. "And Abby's parents, too. They've gone through all these emotions, and now they find out she's really alive. Abby still has a struggle to survive."