Los Banos crash victim “happy-go-lucky, joking, goofy kind of girl”

A 16-year-old Los Banos girl who played high school basketball and was described by family as a “goofball” died Wednesday night when her car crashed into cornfields off of a two-lane road.

Isabelle Marez was driving two 17-year-old female Los Banos residents northwest on Ingomar Grade, east of Sylvester Road, around 6:45 p.m. Wednesday when her 2001 Ford SUV drifted to the right of the road and then rolled into the corn fields to the right of the road, according to a California Highway Patrol Los Banos news release.

Marez was ejected from the vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene. The two other girls in the car were treated for moderate injuries at the scene, CHP said.

Although CHP reported that Marez wasn’t wearing her seat belt, one of her passengers told Isabelle’s father, Jack Marez Jr., that Isabelle did put the seat belt on.

After speaking with the girls who were in the car, Marez said he believes a flat tire caused Isabelle to lose control of the vehicle after over correcting to avoid drifting into oncoming traffic.

Isabelle, who worked at Panda Express, saved her money to buy new tires and planned to replace them shortly, Marez said.

She and her friends were headed to Santa Nella to get burgers.

Marez was a senior this year at Pacheco High School, where she played basketball. She was looking forward to her birthday next month so she could sign up for the U.S. Navy, where she wanted to pursue a nursing career, Marez said.

“Isabelle, she was the best kid ever,” Marez said. “She was that happy-go-lucky, joking, goofy kind of girl.”

Marez said, just on Saturday, Isabelle had the family “rolling” in laughter as she lip synced to Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” while they attended an Oakland Athletics game.

Los Banos Unified Superintendent Mark Marshall said students and staff at Pacheco High took the news of Marez’s death very hard. A team of counselors and licensed psychologists are available to assist students and staff as needed.

Isabelle’s family set up a GoFundMe campaign to help pay for funeral expenses.

This story was originally published August 18, 2017 at 8:00 AM with the headline "Los Banos crash victim “happy-go-lucky, joking, goofy kind of girl”."