"I lost my husband and two sons," said Cudal, 42, as the grieving wife and mother slumped on her couch at her Whitmore Village home. Her eyes were red and swollen from so many tears.

"My heart is very hurt. My head is blind. It's hard to think."

Police said her loved ones were riding in a blue 1991 Chevrolet Cavalier that slammed into a flatbed truck that belongs to a cooperative of small farmers and was crossing the road about two miles north of the Royal Kunia subdivision. The car exploded into flames.

The truck driver, a 39-year-old 'Ewa Beach man, was not injured. Police traffic investigators said the truck was not speeding and its driver had not been drinking. They believed that the driver of the Cavalier was speeding, but had not determined if he was driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Police did not identify the driver of the car. According to a relative, Rose Malinay, the family thinks that J.R. was probably driving, but they didn't know for sure.

The accident occurred under clear skies in an unlighted area, police said.

The senior Manzano and his younger son were taken to St. Francis West Medical Center, were they died shortly after 10 p.m. The older son was taken to The Queen's Medical Center, where he died around 12:30 a.m. yesterday.

Cudal said she and the couple's six children arrived in Hawai'i from Laoag City in the Philippines two years ago and settled with relatives in Wahiawa. Although she and Manzano had been together for two decades, they had not married.

She and the children returned to Hawai'i and Manzano joined them in February of 2004. He was soon working as a farmer and gardener at Helemano Plantation.

Cudal said she and her husband did not share the same last name because he still had some paperwork to complete for immigration purposes.

Early Tuesday there was excitement in the air, Cudal said. Edison was anticipating his 17th birthday on Sunday. And her husband, who just got his driver's license, had bought a shiny, black 1998 Toyota Corolla from a co-worker on Monday.

Early that evening, while Cudal was away from home, relatives admired the car, which was parked outside the family home on Kani'ahe Street in Whitmore.

"Some of the younger kids were playing in the car and my brother-in-law said to make sure the car was locked before everyone came in for the night," said Cudal's sister, Rose Malinay.

Somehow, Manzano's instructions were misunderstood — the children climbed out of the car, with the only set of keys locked inside.

Malinay said Manzano immediately called the man who sold him the car and learned he had a spare key at his home in Waipahu.

"He asked his son — my nephew Nestor Jr. — if he could drive him down to Waipahu to pick up the spare key, and they left about 8 p.m.," Malinay said. Edison decided go along for the ride, which should have taken no more than 45 minutes to an hour at most, Malinay said.

Cudal said she panicked when she woke up at around 2 a.m. and her husband was not beside her. She said she sensed something terrible had happened.

"I looked outside and I didn't see the (Chevrolet Cavalier)," she said. "My heart was pounding and my legs were shaking. And then I called my sister, Rose."

Malinay contacted relatives who phoned police and were told that the three Manzanos had been killed in the crash.

"She wasn't home when they left Tuesday night and never got to say goodbye to them," said Malinay.

"She keeps asking why the three of them had to go all at once — why at least one of them could not have survived."

Cudal described her husband as a happy man who was thoughtful toward her and the children. J.R. was a good son who had a job with Del Monte in the housing maintenance department, she said. Edison was a good student who worked part time in the food court above Sam's Club in Pearl City.

The rest of her children — Davie Mar, 21, Mark Anthony, 12, Michelle, 9 and Marielle, 8 — were devastated by the news, said Cudal.

Paulette Lee, Helemano Plantation operations manager, described Manzano as "a quiet and humble man who worked hard and got along well with everyone here."

She said Manzano worked at the plantation for almost a year.

The co-worker who sold Manzano the car and gave him the spare key Tuesday night was the last one to see him and his sons alive, she said.

"The co-worker told Nestor he would bring the spare with him to work Wednesday morning, but Nestor said he wanted to come get the key because he had to move the car that night," Lee said.

"Our condolences go out to the family — to have lost Nestor and the two sons as well, it's such a tragedy," Lee said. "Nestor will be sorely missed here. He was such a great guy."

Reach Will Hoover at whoover@honoluluadvertiser.com or at 525-8038. Reach David Waite at dwaite@honoluluadvertiser.com or at 525-7412.