Last Updated on January 27, 2018 by CCAR Staff
An online fundraiser has been set up to help the family of Daniel Castillo, who was killed Monday in a collision with a wrong-way driver on the 210 Freeway in Claremont.
The GoFundme.com account was started by Dana Mayer, who never met Castillo, 69, of Fontana, but had recently become close friends with his wife, Marta Castillo.
The two woman met through a 10-week bible study group at Hillside Community Church in Rancho Cucamonga. The group, which started meeting about three weeks ago, includes new members to the church like Mayer and Marta Castillo.
“She’s holding up real well but she knows there’s a reason, above all of our understanding,” Mayer said.
The crash that killed Daniel Castillo began Monday, Jan. 22, when police say Nicole Thibault, 28, of Santa Clarita, carjacked a truck in San Bernardino, then fled, eventually driving west on the center median of the eastbound lanes of the 210 Freeway.
About 20 miles into her escape, police say Thibault veered into oncoming traffic east of Mills Avenue in Claremont.
Thibault remains hospitalized but was arrested Friday, said Officer Rodrigo Jimenez, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol.
Mayer is hoping to raise $8,000 to help her friend with funeral expenses. As of Saturday afternoon, $870 had been raised by 16 donations. Mayer said Marta Castillo has declined to speak to the media, adding her husband was a reserved man.
Daniel Castillo had spent a career in the banking industry and had just started a second career, going into real estate, she said.
While Mayer said she felt an instant connection with members of the bible study group, the tragic event Monday night brought them closer.
“We’ve all rallied to her side like an army,” Mayer said by phone Saturday.
To make a donation, visit www.gofundme.com/DCastillo.
