NBC 7’s Amber Frias spoke to a cousin of the couple about the tragedy, and Mark Mullen has the latest on the crash investigation.
They lived to serve their community but they loved to spend time with their family; their loving, playful, and family-oriented personalities were a match at first sight.
“They would both make fun of you, make fun of each other all the time,” said Chandler Cline, SDPD Detective Ryan Park’s cousin. “I’ve never seen them in a bad mood, both of them together.”
Park and his wife Jamie Huntley-Park, also an SDPD detective, were killed Friday morning in a crash caused by a wrong-way driver.
The couple met while in 2012 while they were San Diego Police Department cadets, according to Chief David Nisleit.
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“Jamie was so nice,” said Cline. “She had the most beautiful soul.”
They got married on Jan. 23, 2016, and recently adopted a small dog named Bower. The young couple was thriving but not without their family by their side. Cline said the couple always made sure family felt included.
“About a month ago, I had hit him up and said, ‘Hey Ryan, we should go to a baseball game, you know?'” Cline recalled. “I didn't think much of it, I didn't think he would get the tickets, but sure enough, we got off the phone, and he said that he got us the tickets.”
Tickets for an Angels game against the Mariners scheduled for Friday, June 4.
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“He texted me this morning that he was going to be here at 2 p.m. to pick me up,” Cline said. “I thought, ‘Perfect because I got off work at 2 p.m.' So I came home and I texted him, you know, and I said, ‘Hey, let us know when you’re coming. We are waiting for you. My dad is ready for the game.”
Park never showed up. Cline's dad received a phone call informing him the couple had been involved in a wrong-way crash in San Ysidro. Both of them died at the scene.
“[When I heard,] I even called him,” Cline said. “I just didn't want to believe it, you know. [I thought,] He has to walk up this porch right now, give us a hug and just make fun of every single one of us.”
Cline said he is struggling to come to terms with what happened to his two cousins.
“I wish I could’ve told them both that I love them so much,” said Cline.
He says he will never understand why they were taken so soon, but he said he will continue to miss them every day.
The CHP is still investigating the crash, including how and why the wrong-way driver entered the freeway going the opposite direction. The detectives were on a schedule day off but may have been doing some background work on a case at the time of the crash, Nisleit said.
