Three soldiers killed when car plummets 400 feet off California’s Devil’s Slide

Driver of car was ‘only supporter for his family’ back home in Afghanistan, roommate said

Authorities have identified the three people who died when the vehicle they were traveling in fell over the railing of California’s Highway 1 down a seaside cliff and into the ocean near Devil’s Slide.

All three inside the vehicle — Mohammad Noory, 29, of South San Francisco; Angelica Gacho, 28, of South of San Francisco; and Brylyn Aroma, 36, of Fort Riley, Kansas — were pronounced dead on the scene on Friday and later identified by the San Mateo County Coroner’s Office on Sunday.

A roommate of Noory’s told NBC Bay Area the 29-year-old immigrated to the US in 2021 seeking better opportunities to support his family, after serving as a US military interpreter in his native Afghanistan.

“I’m really sad because he was my friend since 2015. And it’s, it’s, really sad for his family. He was the only supporter for his family … That’s all,” the roommate, who asked to remain anonymous, told the station.

The crash occurred while Noory was working as an Uber driver, according to an online fundraising page for his funeral.

“He left his entire family and loved ones in mourning,” the GoFundMe page reads. “He is gone but not forgotten.”

Gacho served as a US Army communications specialist in Korea at the time of her death, according to a LinkedIn page.

Aroma, meanwhile, previously served as a US Army medic in Fort Riley, Kansas.

Vinny Hall, Aroma’s boyfriend, said he was “devastated and heartbroken,” according to social media posts viewed by Mail Online.

“You were my rock baby, my whole world. We had so much planned for our future,’ he wrote. “I will always love you so, so much. You will always be in my heart forever and always.”

The car went off the road late Friday morning, in a section of sharp turns and steep cliffs 15 miles south of San Francisco.

The California Highway Patrol temporarily shut down a section of the state’s famous seaside Highway 1, as a CAL FIRE team rappeled down a cliff to inspect the car, where they found two of the three victims and pronounced them dead.

A third body was recovered on Saturday.

The crash is still under investigation.

Last year, a doctor named Dharmesh Patel was accused of driving himself, his wife, and his two children, aged 4 and 7 at the time, off a cliff near Devil’s Slide.

All four survived, and Patel was accused of attempted murder, to which he pleaded not guilty. Last month, he was granted a mental health diversion.