Family discovers their loved ones' bones at crash scene

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- A family in shock after losing their loved one in a fiery car crash, visited the scene of the accident to mourn but instead, they looked down to find remnants of his burnt body.

Police said Daniel Gonzales lost control while driving late at night on Country Club Road and drove his car into a ditch, where he was pronounced dead at the scene.

At the scene of the crash is where Daniel’s family collected the remnants of his body and put it in a grocery bag, which they later brought to the St. Joseph Funeral Home. There, a bone specialist was able to confirm their fears.  

The family is now just feeling shocked and upset that his body parts were left on the side of the road. A cousin of Daniel’s, Jose Martinez, found the remnants of his body at the scene.

“We weren’t there to look for bones, we were there to try to go piece together what happened and figure out Daniel’s last moments,” Martinez said. “To our surprise, we went to place a candle down, and we see a bone. They saw how badly Danny was burnt, it’s obvious that he wasn’t complete it’s obvious that there was something missing, why not look for it?”

Daniel’s son Daniel Rios said he wishes the emergency crews just would have done a better job cleaning up to avoid all of the pain they’ve endured.

“If it was one of their family members, they would’ve wanted everything picked up, they would’ve wanted the car searched through, the crime scene, everything, they would’ve wanted it all done thoroughly,” Rios said.

Now, Daniel’s family is doing their best to mourn after making that horrible discovery, and remember him in the best way that they can by sharing photos and memories.

“To see it is just like blatant disrespect to us as a family,” Martinez said. “Danny was a strong guy and we gotta speak up for him. We can’t bury half of him; we can’t do anything half way for him. We need him all. He needs to be complete.”

The St. Joseph County coroner Mike Yoder said that anything left at the scene was not left there intentionally. They did their best and he admitted they made a mistake which he said he apologized to the family for.