A San Diego – based sailor died earlier this month in a fiery car crash about 60 miles east of his duty station, according to police.
Aviation Electrician’s Mate 1st Class Monterro J. “Terro” Friend, 34, was driving west on Interstate 8 in southeastern San Diego County near Campo at about 3:30 a.m. on June 2 when his 2018 Toyota Tundra drifted off the road and then into the highway’s center divider, according to a CHP statement.
Investigators say that his truck then went airborne, struck an embankment and caught fire.
Friend was pronounced dead at the scene just after 4 a.m., according to the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office.
The fire damage made it unclear whether Friend was wearing a seat belt and the accident remains under investigation, according to CHP.
A former resident of both Georgia and Tennessee, Friend enlisted in 2008.
He was at least the 19th sailor to die in a motor vehicle accident since the federal fiscal year began on Oct. 1, according to Navy records.