A mother killed over the weekend in a motorcycle crash in La Mesa is being described by her coworkers as a bundle of energy who was able to put a smile on anyone's face.
Theresa Clouthier, 38, was one of three passengers on a motorcyle that crashed Halloween night on a freeway on-ramp, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Clouthier was not wearing a helmet and was pronounced dead minutes after the crash, the CHP said. The other two passengers fled the scene and have yet to be caught.
"What kind of monster would leave someone laying there to die by themselves?" said Corena Ocano, a coworker and former roomate of Clouthier. "Anyone who knows her wouldn't leave her there."
Ocano said Clouthier went out to a bar in Santee with a friend and stayed there after her friend left. She was later seen outside the bar smoking with a couple, but it's unknown if they were the other passengers involved in the crash.
Clouthier wasn't the type to take off with people she didn't know, according to Ocano. She said Clouthier placed a call that went unanswered to her friend, who left the bar at around 11 p.m.
The 2007 Harley Davidson Sportster she was on was speeding on the ramp from Severin Drive to westbound I-8 near state Route 125 when it crashed just before 11:20 p.m. Thursday, CHP said.
She was ejected from the bike and was pronounced dead about 10 minutes after the crash, according to the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office.
Cloutheir's daughter, sister, family and friends held a candlelight vigil for her on Sunday at the beach, which was one of her favorite places.
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"She loved going to the beach. If she could be at the beach every day she would," Ocana said. "If she could live on the beach she would have. She was a beach bum."
Ocana and Clouthier's other coworkers at J&B Materials in El Cajon say they will miss her bubbly personality the most.
"She was fun, bubbly, adventurous. She was off the wall," Ocana added. "She would do these dances and sit here in the middle of the day and do a dance. People would bring her food and she'd do a dance because she was happy."
Ocana said customers have been coming in with tears in their eyes since the accident to express their condolences.
A GoFundMe was set up to help pay for funeral arrangements.
The two passengers who survived the crash likely have injuries, CHP spokesperson Officer Travis Garrow said. The agency was reaching out to local hospitals for anyone who may have sought treatment.
He encouraged the two people to turn themselves in "so that this doesn't get any worse."
"You cannot leave a collision scene, especially when someone sustains fatal injuries," he said. "So definitely, there’s a crime involved at this point."
The crash remains under investigation. It was not clear if drugs or alcohol were a factor.
