WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — The family of 24-year-old Samuel 'Sammy' Rodriguez is grappling with heartbreak days after a tragic four-vehicle crash on Interstate 95 in Palm Beach County that took the life of a Marine veteran.
"Heartbroken," stated his niece Alexis Guzman. "Devastated, because there’s so much more that I could have told him.”
Guzman said Rodriguez was born and raised in West Palm Beach and she grew up along his side.
Rodriguez graduated from Forest Hill High School where he participated in the Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (JROTC) program. He later served as a Marine for four years while based in Okinawa, Japan.
"He was the strongest person I knew and the biggest person I looked up to," Guzman said. "He got to serve our country and that's a big opportunity."
The Rodriguez family hopes he'll be remembered for that and so much more. They say he loved reading, watching anime and spending time with his loved ones.
"Full of life and anywhere he would go, he would always have a big smile on his face," Guzman said.
The Florida Highway Patrol said Rodriguez was standing beside his car in the center lane when another vehicle struck him. Guzman believes his vehicle may not have been functioning and Rodriguez was seeking a safe spot.
His brother, Oscar Rodriguez Jr., recalls the moments he found out about the tragedy.
"I didn't believe it. No, no, not my little brother, no," Rodriguez said. "He was on the way to my house to get other work and I was waiting for him."
Guzman found out while out of town and adds the return home was the hardest part.
"He's not going to be in the same place I last saw him," Guzman said. "Which was sitting on the couch, laughing, playing his video games. It was the toughest that we’ve ever had to go through."
WPTV reporter Zitlali Solache asked Guzman how she will move forward after something like this.
"Right now, I don’t feel that I’m ready to move forward yet, but I know with the help of everybody in my family, I feel like there is a possibility one day,” Guzman said.
The family says signs of Sammy are already present in their lives.
"He has front seats to our lives, for the rest of our lives, until we meet again," stated Rodriguez. "Everything that we’re going through, everything that we’re going to go through in our future I feel like his presence will still be felt."
The family started a GoFundMe to ease funeral expenses. In the meantime, they are seeking a funeral home to lay Sammy to rest on his birthday, Nov. 18.
