Reno couple’s apparent traffic deaths takes a strange turn

Wednesday, Nov. 24, 1999 | 1:22 a.m.

Nevada County sheriff's investigators speculate that Roberto and Araceli Gallegos had an argument in the moving car and that as he drove, he shot his wife several times before turning the handgun on himself.

The car smashed through a guard rail in the center divider, sped across the eastbound lanes of Interstate 80 and rammed into some trees late Friday afternoon.

In addition to Roberto, 26, and Araceli, 22, officers found the couple's 6-year-old son Christopher inside the wreckage.

The boy, who was in the back seat, suffered a broken leg and was treated at Tahoe Forest Hospital in Truckee.

He was released to a relative Monday, the California Highway Patrol said.

Nevada County Sheriff's Capt. Gary Jacobson said investigators have had several interviews with the boy, but he would not discuss what the 6-year-old has told them.

The crash occurred at Friday afternoon when the Gallegos' vehicle, traveling west on Interstate 80, smashed into the trees about a mile from the agricultural inspection station in Truckee.

CHP Sgt. Steve Shero said officers initially deemed the case a traffic accident, believing the driver simply lost control.

But Sunday, when a Nevada County pathologist detected what he thought were bullet wounds to the victims' heads, the sheriff's office took a second look at the case.

Sheriff Keith Royal said his officers searched the wreckage and found a handgun and two spent rounds of ammunition.