Eloi Vasquez Dead: Missing UC Berkeley Student, Athlete Fatally Struck By Car

Yesterday, the California soccer community came together to aid in the safe return of Eloi Vasquez, a student-athlete of UC Berkeley who had gone missing after leaving a party near the campus of the University of Southern California early Saturday morning. His disappearance had a citywide search going on as well as social media campaigns calling for the public’s help and offering a $100,000 reward. Unfortunately, it was later discovered that Vasquez was fatally struck by a car on the 10 Freeway early Saturday morning.

Vasquez was a 19-year-old freshman midfielder on the Cal soccer team. He had aspirations of becoming a professional soccer player and according to his coach, Kevin Grimes, he could’ve played for a Major League Soccer team. He appeared in 12 games during his freshman season, he was devoted to the game and trained so much on his off days that his coaches changed the locks on the equipment sheds to prevent him from overexerting himself, said Grimes. "Although he only spent a little over a semester here at Cal, his impact was huge, certainly on me. I really loved Eloi and I know our teammates did too," he added.

The young man had driven from Northern California to Los Angeles with his soccer friends for spring break. According to his grandmother, Bonnie Margolin, Eloi didn’t really want to leave his younger brothers. "He just left really half-heartedly," Margolin said. "I dropped him off at the BART station and he just said, 'I love you, nana,' and I said, 'I love you, Eloi,' and that was it." Vasquez attended a party at the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity near USC Friday night, and left past midnight Saturday morning, telling his friends he wanted to go to the beach.

About an hour later, he made two phone calls to his friend Aurora Cardenas in Berkeley. She said he was scared and lost. "He was just really worried and didn't know what to do," she said. At about 2:30 a.m. Saturday, Vasquez allegedly ran across traffic lanes on the eastbound 10 Freeway and a car driving 60 mph struck him. The driver remained at the scene and told authorities there was no way to avoid him. Eventually, the highway patrol and the LAPD linked Vasquez’s disappearance to the deadly crash and notified his family. "We are saddened to hear of the passing of Eloi Vasquez. We were coordinating with his family today to do everything we could to aid in the search efforts. Our thoughts and prayers are with Eloi's family and friends," Tau Kappa Epsilon released in a statement.