Columbus, OH : Columbus Academy teacher and husband killed in small car and a semi-truck crash on Wednesday January 6 2016.

Columbus Academy teacher Alicia Chaves and her husband, Cameron “Cam” Pytel, loved to travel, and their latest adventure was to drive to watch their beloved Buckeyes play in the Sugar Bowl last night.
After spending the holidays with the Pytel family in Stuart in southeastern Florida, they set out early Wednesday morning for New Orleans. Pytel was at the wheel on a dark stretch of Florida’s Turnpike near Yeehaw Junction when they suddenly came upon a crash between a small car and a semi-truck at about 6:20 a.m.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, their Honda swerved to the left to avoid the car that was stopped partially in the outside lane. The Honda went into the median and back into the northbound lanes where it toppled onto its side and slid into the back of the truck parked on the right shoulder.
Chaves, 58, and Pytel, 52, who lived near Westerville, died in the crash, along with their two dogs, the patrol said. Cam worked in the real-estate section for Nationwide Insurance, family members said.
It’s extremely dark and rural out there,” patrol Sgt. Kim Montes said. The speed limit at the crash scene is 70 mph.
It’s horrible,” Academy Head of School Melissa Soderberg, said last night. “It’s devastating for the parents and students.
She was beloved, a very sweet person. We all benefited from her kindness.”
She said students felt comfortable in Chaves’ middle school Spanish class, where the teacher demanded that students be kind to each other. She had worked full time at the school since 2003.
The school will have counselors available for students and their families when classes resume on Tuesday.
Chaves’ sister, Silvia Chaves, was in their native Costa Rica last night with some of her siblings after telling their 83-year-old mother of the tragedy.
She is very strong, she had seven children and has a strong faith,” Silvia said of their mother. The younger Alicia was the third of six girls and one boy.
She said her sister Alicia was nurturing and loved her teaching job at Columbus Academy.
Another sister, Cinthia Chaves, said Alicia and Cam met while she was studying at Ohio State University and they were neighbors.
It was definitely love at first sight,” she said. Alicia fell for the athletic, energetic Cam, who loved extreme sports and also enjoyed traveling.
They did not have children. Their two miniature poodles, Dude and Gizmo, who also died in the crash, “were like their babies," she said. “They took them everywhere.”
The couple visited places such as California, Utah, Aruba and the Caribbean islands, and they kept a boat at Port Clinton, Silvia Chaves said.
They were always going, going, going,” she said. “They loved Ohio State, all the teams, the basketball and football. They went to last year’s bowl game.”
Pytel’s mother, Mevla, said her son loved life and lived every moment to the fullest.
I think he lived more in his 52 years than someone could if they lived to be 100,” she said.
Both families said Cam Pytel will be buried in Columbus and that Alicia Chaves will be cremated. Some of her ashes will be buried with Cam and others will rest in her homeland of Costa Rica.

Source:
Columbus Academy teacher, husband killed in crash on way to Sugar Bowl