Authorities have trouble identifying two people killed in Shades Mountain wreck

Authorities say they are having trouble identifying the two people killed Tuesday when a vehicle in which they were traveling plunged off Shades Mountain in Bluff Park.

They are a Hispanic male and Hispanic female and are believed to be juveniles, but their identities have yet to be confirmed, Jefferson County Chief Deputy Coroner Bill Yates said this morning about 9:30 a.m.

“We’ve got some definite leads but have not been able to confirm them,” Yates said. The two people were in a gray or silver 1999 Toyota 4Runner, he said.

Birmingham police Sgt. Johnny Williams said the vehicle apparently was headed north on Valley Street when it went straight off the bluff where the road meets Shades Crest Road, instead of turning right or left onto Shades Crest Road or right onto West Oxmoor Road to go down the mountain.

The vehicle plunged over the embankment and tumbled 300 to 400 feet before coming to a stop, Williams said. “That vehicle was so mangled you could hardly make out what it was,” he said.

Both the male and female in the vehicle were ejected, he said. Their bodies were removed at the base of the mountain, and the vehicle was pulled back up to the top, he said.

Yates said his office has not yet determined the cause or manner of death, and the Birmingham Police Department is assisting with trying to determine identities and find family members.

“Why it happened, I don’t know,” Yates said. “There are a lot of unknowns.”