A 26-year-old woman remains in a Denver hospital and two unrelated families are burying loved ones, as Littleton investigators puzzle over what led to a horrific car crash early on Aug. 2.
“We don’t know what happened,” said Lt. Mike Broadhead of the Littleton Police Department. “Usually, we can piece together what happened, but this one we may not be able to.”
The mystery comes down to this: Why did Richard Scott Hogsett, a 36-year-old south-metro real estate broker and a single father of three, navigate his black Mercedes-Benz sedan around a divided median into three lanes of oncoming traffic on Santa Fe Drive that Saturday morning?
“We have witnesses who say he had both hands on the wheel and was looking straight ahead,” Broadhead said. “We haven’t found any evidence yet that he used his brakes.”
Hogsett traveled more than 200 feet in the wrong lanes before he collided head-on with a green Honda Accord driven by Kelly Joan Horan, a 26-year-old nurse’s assistant on her way home from a 12-hour shift at Porter Adventist Hospital.
Hogsett’s Mercedes went airborne, witnesses said, and hit a red Ford Taurus driven by Neva Christine Mondragon, a 27-year-old hairdresser on her way to have her nails done for her fiance’s birthday and a trip to Las Vegas the next day.
Horrified witnesses saw Hogsett change lanes at South Prince Street, a block south of West Belleview Avenue, then accelerate toward the oncoming traffic, Broadhead said.
The Mercedes’ high speed made some witnesses think the driver was fleeing police, they told reporters at the crash scene that day.
Hogsett has no record of traffic offenses or other crimes, Colorado records show.
“We don’t have any idea yet what his emotional or mental state might have been,” Broadhead said.
He had made a cellphone call a few minutes before the crash to confirm that he was on his way. The appointment was a social engagement, but Broadhead would not discuss Hogsett’s destination or whom he called.
An autopsy showed no immediate medical problems that might have caused Hogsett to become disoriented or irrational, and there was no evidence of alcohol or drug use, Broadhead said.
Results of a toxicology screen for drugs or alcohol will take another two or three weeks, he said.
Efforts to reach Hogsett’s family last week were unsuccessful. His funeral is Monday in Wheat Ridge.
More than 700 people paid their respects to Mondragon at Romero Funeral Home in north Denver last week. She had moved to Denver from La Jara, in southern Colorado, where a rosary was recited Friday night before her funeral there Saturday morning.
A week earlier, she had been on her way to Salon Foushee & Day Spa, where she had worked for three years.
After a manicure, she had planned to go out with her fiance, Jose Carlos Maez, to celebrate his birthday, said the aunt whom Mondragon lived with in Denver, Betty Valdez.
When she didn’t show up, Maez went looking for her. Six miles north of the salon, he came upon the wreckage of the crash. They were to be married in October.
Through victims advocates, Hogsett’s fiancee has asked to share her condolences with Maez, Valdez said.
Mondragon’s family had placed an order for flowers to be delivered to Horan’s hospital room as soon as she’s moved from intensive care to a private room, Valdez said. The family’s florist called every day to check.
Horan received the flowers Thursday, said her mother, Joan Horan.
The Horan family already had placed an order for flowers to Mondragon’s funeral.
“We wanted to show our support for her family,” Joan Horan said. “These two girls had so much in common.”
Besides their proximity in age, both had studied at the Emily Griffith Opportunity School in Denver, though years apart.
Horan finished her studies to become a licensed practical nurse just two weeks before the crash. She gave a speech at her graduation and looked forward to taking the state board test, her mother said.
Her daughter has multiple broken bones and head injuries, and she has a long rehabilitation ahead, Joan Horan said.
Kelly Horan had only minimal insurance, her mother said. A fund has been set up, and donations can be made at any US Bank location.
Despite physical and financial challenges ahead, her mother was grateful.
“It’s a miracle she’s alive,” Joan Horan said. “We’ve still got her, and we have to be thankful for that.”
Joey Bunch: 303-954-1174 or jbunch@denverpost.com
