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Fatal Crash Early Thursday in Arroyo Grande

ARROYO GRANDE – A college student's life is cut short after a car crash early this morning.

20 year old Alicia Carreras, of Arroyo Grande, was killed in a car crash.

It happened at around three Thursday morning on Stanton road just south of Lyn road.

It took about two and a half hours for anyone to notice.

Around five thirty someone driving by saw the crash, but by then it was already too late.

The accident was so powerful the license plate from the car was embedded in the tree.

Movie tickets and popcorn were on the ground surrounded by shattered glass.

It's where 20 year old Alicia Carreras was killed in a car accident.

"I just saw her a couple of nights ago and it's just kind of a blow," says Nipomo High School teacher Greg Gracia.

At the impound lot you can still see the grass and mud in the tires small pieces of the puzzle.

Alicia had gotten off of work at taco bell at around midnight. She was less than a mile away from her house when for some reason she lost control of her car, veered off of the road and hit a tree. You can still see the groove marks in the dirt.

Crews arrived to see Carreras car wrapped around the tree.

She was pronounced dead at the scene.

"Everyone just had blank faces, they didn't know what to say, it's the last thing they expected," says one of her former co-workers.

Carreras graduated from Nipomo High School in 2007.

She was a leader on campus, participating in link, a program where upper class students helped new students with the transition to high school.

"She always had a great outlook on life, a great attitude every time I saw her. She was always smiling and happy," says Gracia

It's something you can see in her yearbook photos.

Carreras was also driven academically.

She was enrolled at Alan Hancock College on a path to a university.

At this time officials do not believe alcohol or drugs played a role in the crash.