Hope Ranch Inn: A benefit tri-tip BBQ will be held Friday, August 27, at the Hope Ranch Inn for the family of three killed when a gravel truck smashed into their house Tuesday.

The 4-8 p.m. barbecue, with food donated by Albertson’s, will be held on the grounds of the motel, 4111 State St., adjacent to the scene of the tragedy, according to Nancy Schliemann, who manages the motel and the small cottage to the rear where the family lived.

Cost of the meal, including chili beans, bread, chips and a soft drink will be $5, plus a donation, to help with family expenses needed to return the bodies to Mexico, Schliemann told The Independent.

She said she’s closed the small motel temporarily so that members of the family, arriving from Mexico and other locations, can gather and grieve. Mexican government officials and lawyers have already visited, she said.

Leon Leonel, his wife Lorena Guadalupe-Tellez Pacheco and son Jaciel, 8, a Franklin School third grader, were killed when the truck, whose brakes weren’t working, roared down San Marcos Pass, crossed State Street, rumbled down a driveway and crashed into the home. A relative had just left, and an elderly unrelated man who shared part of the unit had just made coffee that morning and survived by “diving” out of the way, Schliemann said.

The man’s beloved dog, also believed to have perished in the crash, turned up safe Thursday. Ironically, owners had planned to raze the cottage to make way for a planned hotel, but when she heard of the family needing housing she allowed them to move in.

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