MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. — Authorities are investigating a series of crashes late Sunday night that ended in the death of an 18-year-old woman and left three others critically injured. The Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office confirmed the victim as Angelina Plasencia, whose body was discovered Monday morning in a canal near the site of the final crash.
The chaotic sequence of events began around 11:30 p.m. Sunday when deputies first responded to a call in the area of Northwest 72nd Avenue and Northwest 58th Street for a missing person report. At the time, officers did not yet realize the call was connected to multiple collisions involving the same group. By the next morning, detectives returned to the location and discovered Plasencia’s body in the canal, prompting a full-scale investigation.
According to investigators, Plasencia was a passenger in a vehicle that was involved in an initial crash at Northwest 74th Avenue and Northwest 58th Street. Instead of remaining at the scene, the occupants fled. The same car was then involved in a second collision on the northbound entrance ramp of State Road 826 near Northwest 58th Street. After the wreck, the group once again abandoned the vehicle and ran from the scene.
In an attempt to escape the area, the group contacted a friend who arrived on a motorcycle. Investigators said four people, including Plasencia, tried to ride on the motorcycle at once, a dangerous decision that led to disaster. The motorcycle crashed at Northwest 72nd Avenue and Northwest 58th Street—the very intersection where deputies had initially responded earlier that night.
The impact ejected all four riders. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue rushed to the scene, transporting three victims—a man and two women—to a nearby hospital. They remain in critical condition. Plasencia, however, was not located at the crash site. Hours later, deputies discovered her body floating in the canal, confirming her as the fourth victim of the night’s chain of crashes.
Investigators have not yet identified the drivers of the original vehicle or the motorcycle. Detectives are working to reconstruct the timeline of events and determine whether charges will be filed. Officials emphasized that Plasencia’s death underscores the dangers of fleeing crash scenes and making reckless decisions under pressure, turning what began as a single collision into a devastating loss for her family and community.