Riverhead family seeks help after fatal motorcycle crash kills 22-year-old

A Riverhead family is asking for help after 22-year-old Ismael Besantez Ramon was killed in a motorcycle crash at Cross River Drive and Union Avenue, a sudden loss that now carries funeral costs and the added burden of sending his body back to Ecuador.

Police said the crash happened about 7:57 a.m. on Tuesday, April 28, 2026, when Besantez Ramon was riding a 2022 CFMoto motorcycle northbound on Cross River Drive, also known as County Road 105. Investigators said the motorcycle collided with a pickup truck making a left turn from Union Avenue onto CR-105. Riverhead Volunteer Ambulance Corps took him to Peconic Bay Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. The pickup truck driver was treated and later released.

The family launched a GoFundMe on April 29 to cover burial expenses and the cost of repatriating his remains to Ecuador. Relatives said that return reflected his final wish, so he could be laid to rest there with loved ones. The fundraiser has become a practical response to a loss that is emotional, financial and deeply logistical, from funeral arrangements to international shipping and paperwork.

Dennis, Besantez Ramon’s brother, said he learned what had happened only after a roommate called to say detectives had arrived at the family home. That left relatives to piece together the crash, confirm his identity and move through the legal and medical steps that follow a fatal collision. Family members also said a witness who stayed with him told them he was calm in his final moments.

The crash has shaken a family already trying to absorb the ordinary costs that become overwhelming after an unexpected death. In Riverhead, where County Road 105 is a familiar daily route, the collision also underscores the danger of left-turn crashes involving motorcycles and pickup trucks at busy intersections. For Besantez Ramon’s relatives, though, the urgent task now is simpler and heavier at the same time: raise enough money to bring him home, honor his wish, and lay him to rest near family in Ecuador.