Man dead, wife injured after minivan leaves I-75, crashes down embankment in Cobb

A man was killed and his wife was injured after their minivan left I-75 North in Marietta and crashed down an embankment Wednesday morning, according to police.

The crash happened shortly before 6 a.m. near where Bells Ferry Road passes over the interstate, according to Marietta police spokesperson Officer Chuck McPhilamy. Investigators believe Blanca Manriquez-Rodriguez, who was driving a 2016 Toyota Sienna, lost control of the vehicle, causing it to strike the right guardrail, flip over it and tumble down a large embankment toward Bells Ferry Lane, McPhilamy said.

The woman’s husband, 45-year-old Edgar Perez, was the front-seat passenger. He was ejected during the crash and died at the scene, police said. Manriquez-Rodriguez, 43, was taken to Wellstar Kennestone Hospital with serious injuries. The couple were from Chattanooga, according to police.

The minivan left the interstate and crashed down an embankment.

Joseph Houser, a welder for a nearby construction company, said he heard the crash and rushed to try to help.

“I just heard a bang and what sounded like metal tearing pieces,” he told reporters at the scene. “I came running out of my shop and saw a car sitting there at the bottom of the hill, and I just sprang into action. I jumped the fence and was yelling if anybody was in the vehicle.”