killed but somehow their identities were mixed up and the cantu family spent the last week at the hospital thinking their daughter was badly injured but alive. we were there all week. i think i slept eight hours in the last week or so. reporter: dental records finally showed that the young woman who survived was actually aby. her family and friends thought she was ked. guerra is a member of the womens soccer team. her teammates were getting ready to attend her funeral when she got the news. the news that abby had not died was while surprising, was something that made me feel like this is is great. there is a chance. reporter: this is not the first time this type of heartbreaking mix up has made headlines. in 2006, two girls identities were mixed up.
family. marlena s loved ones are in a lot of pain. to try to prevent this from ever happening again. i really miss my daughter. you know, she s still with me, just a matter of it s going be hard. reporter: frank and his partner are devastated and holding on to each other for support. for more than a week, cantu thought his daughter survived a car crash only to find out she actually died. i was led to believe that was marlena. reporter: cantu had taken a trip to disneyland with four other friends from high school, including her best friend abby. cantu survived and abby was
here s where the story gets tricky. a young woman died in the crash. family members are told that person is abby guerra, who you see on the screen left, and her good friend marlena cantu s family is told sthees in critical condition. but it appears that through a mix-up it was the exact opposite, it was cantu who died. cantu seen here on the right. we have some sound. this is just coming in. this is a joint news conference at st. joseph s hospital and the arizona department of public safety on this entire identity mix-up. as doctors struggled to save this patient s life, we could not readily tell the patient s identity. we interviewed family members that evening and asked for any discernible visual information that could help us make that positive identification. from the information that was provided us on that evening, we believed the patient was marlena
americas and asia, as we know he has been running bp s disaster response since last month, jon. jon: amy kellogg live in london for us, amy thank you. jenna: new information right now on a tragic case of mistaken identity in arizona. police notified 19-year-old abby guerra s family that she died in a car crash last week when it was actually her 21-year-old friend marlena cantu who was killed. they were planning her funeral when they heard the news. we are still in shock. this wasn t something we ever expected. as well as i m probably thinking the other family too. jenna: abby is still in critical condition. we ll have more on the developing and heartbreaking story ahead, jon. jon: the northeast is finally getting relief from the heat. the cold front also triggered deadly storms, though, wicked weather cut electricity to some
and a missing toddler who disappeared while camping with his family in northern arizona. the child was only wearing a diaper when he wandered off from the beaver creek campground. specially trained blood hounds are being used to look for any signs of the child. and families have learned of a very is painful mix up. frands and family of marlena cantu were awaiting a recovery and mourning with abby guerra s