FOUR DEAD IN TWIN CRASHES.

Byline: Daily News

MOJAVE - A Northern California couple, and a 61-year-old woman and a 18-year-old man from Las Vegas have been identified as the victims of Tuesday's twin crashes on Highway 58.

The release of their names by Kern County Coroner officials was delayed because of the holidays.

The Las Vegas residents had been passengers in a speeding pickup truck that drifted off the pavement on Highway 58's new Mojave bypass segment, went out of control and flipped, California Highway Patrol officials said.

The 9:30 a.m. Tuesday crash injured driver Josefa Obiniana, 43, and passengers Alberto Sacramento, 15, and Brian Sacramento, 16, all from Las Vegas, the CHP said.

The Northern California couple, ages 63 and 61, were from the Humboldt County town of Rio Dell. They died 90 minutes later when their pickup truck rear-ended a big rig stopped in the traffic jam caused by the earlier crash.

Injured was passenger Stephen Basford, 26, of Klamath Falls, Ore. The big rig driver and his passengers were not injured.

The Rio Dell couple's pickup truck had been driving on the paved highway shoulder to pass slow-moving vehicles when the driver put on the brakes, CHP officials said. The pickup veered into the dirt, then back into the right-hand lane and rear-ended the big rig, the CHP said.