Valley View neighbor describes efforts to save woman and children killed in tornado

A Valley View woman and her two children were killed when their mobile home and vehicles were blown across the street during Saturday night’s tornado, a neighbor said.

The neighbor, Jose Naranjo, identified the victims as Laura Esparza and her children 15-year-old Miranda and 9-year-old Marco Esparza. A GoFundMe has established to help pay for the funeral costs.

Naranjo, 47, was sheltering with 12 family members in his mother’s kitchen when the tornado hit their mobile home. He lives across the street from the Esparza family on Green Meadow Drive.

He said he heard screaming and found Cuco Esparza trapped between two cars and writhing in pain. He was screaming, looking for his wife, Naranjo said.

The cars had been blown across the street into Naranjo’s brother’s front yard, Naranjo said, speaking through his daughter Guadalupe, 22, as a translator.

Naranjo and others used the flashlights on their phone to search for the family. Daughter Miranda was already dead when they found her, he said, and son Marco was pinned underneath a truck. They found mother Laura sitting inside her gold SUV. She was also dead.

Naranjo’s hands were shaking. He said he’d never get the images out of his head.

The line of severe storms destroyed buildings, overturned RVs and flipped 18-wheelers in Denton and Cooke counties late Saturday and early Sunday morning. At least seven people were killed, and more than 60 people were injured, according to the Cooke County Sheriff’s Office.

Most of the deaths were reported at FRF Estates, a mobile home park, where crews continued search-and-rescue early Sunday morning, according to the Cooke County Sheriff’s Office.

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