CUBA, New Mexico -- Texas A&M said Tuesday that Polo Manukainiu, a 19-year-old redshirt freshman for the Aggies, was among three people killed in a single-car rollover crash in the high desert of northern New Mexico.
Also killed where 18-year-old Utah recruit Gaius "Keio" Vaenuku and 13-year-old Andrew "Lolo" Uhatafe. The three victims were cousins.
The wreck happened Monday evening on U.S. 550 near Cuba, N.M., about 85 miles north of Albuquerque, as the group of five was returning from Salt Lake City to suburban Dallas, where three of them had ties to prep football power Trinity High School in Euless.
The southbound 2002 Toyota Sequoia drifted off the sagebrush-lined highway, New Mexico State Police spokesman Emmanuel T. Gutierrez said. The driver, 18-year-old Siaosi Salesi Uhatafe Jr. of Euless, over-corrected, causing the vehicle to lose control and roll several times. Alcohol wasnt involved and it appeared the driver was the only one wearing a seatbelt, investigators said.
Manukainiu and Andrew Uhatafe died at the scene after they were ejected from the vehicle, Gutierrez said. Vaenuku was pronounced dead in an ambulance that responded to the accident.
The driver and his father, Salesi Uhatafe, were taken to the San Juan Medical Center in Farmington, N.M., and suffered only minor injuries, authorities said. Siaosi Uhatafe was a stepbrother of Manukainiu and, like Vaenuku, also is a Utah recruit.
Manukainiu had apparently traveled to Salt Lake City for some relaxation, tweeting Sunday: "Its always good to get away from the Texas Heat for the weekend. Utah got that breezeeeeeee."
On Monday, hours before the accident, he tweeted: "22 hour drive back to Texas on no sleep. Oh my."
