Dad of 4, local nail salon owner remembered following deadly crash into creek

ETNA, Pa. — Family and friends are mourning the sudden passing of AJ Truong, the beloved owner of a local nail salon.

He was killed when the SUV he was driving went off the road and landed upside down in Pine Creek in Etna. Witnesses say he was coming down Mt. Royal Boulevard at the time. Despite a complex water rescue by first responders, Truong died at the hospital from his injuries.

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On Tuesday morning, when customers showed up to his Hampton Township nail salon, K.O.B. Nails and Spa, a sign on the door read: “K.O.B. will be closed indefinitely for a funeral.”

“I’m really sad to hear the news,” Kris Guenther tells Channel 11.

Guenther works right next door to the salon. She says she heard about the crash and the water rescue, but she didn’t know Truong passed away.

“I got out of my car and went over and then I saw the flowers and the signs and thought ‘oh my goodness,’” Guenther added. “We were rather shocked. He would stop in our deli nearly every day. I waited on him a few times. He was a very nice guy.”

It was around 7:30 p.m. Monday when Truong crashed. His SUV landed upside down in Pine Creek in Etna. Firefighters were able to pull him from his car, and get him to a local hospital, but he did not survive.

It was last June when Channel 11 covered a similar rescue in the same exact spot. In that case, a red car went off the road and landed in Pine Creek.

The people in that car were able to escape through the sunroof and were not badly hurt.

Back at Truong’s salon, customers brought flowers and left signs with messages on Tuesday. Everyone we talked to was in tears, saying Truong was most proud of his wife and four children.

Investigators are still piecing together exactly what happened in the moments leading up to the crash.

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