Funeral details for mum who died of severe burns after being covered in hot asphalt in horror car accident

Elise Caffee, aged 45, and her husband Dan were on their way to a wedding in Cancun, Mexico, when they were “involved in a 10 plus car pile up” earlier this month, according to a post on Instagram.

She died in hospital a week later, after being transported back home to Salt Lake City, United States, and receiving treatment such as surgery to clean the asphalt from her skin.

The accident, which happened on Thursday March 6, took place right in front of a hospital which meant Elise could receive medical attention quickly. In a post uploaded to an Instagram page created to keep fans updated on her health which showed a photo of the wreckage, it explained that “a truck full of hot asphalt hit them, flipping their car, trapping Elise underneath, and dumping steaming hot asphalt on top of her as well as the people in front of the other cars.”

The post went on: “Hospital workers rushed out and immediately started trying to help get people out from under cars as did my Dan, but were getting burned through their protective gloves because the asphalt was so hot.” Elise’s body was badly burned in the incident, but her face was not. She remained unconscious and in a critical condition.

Elise died on Thursday March 13. The statement, which was published alongside a photo of Elise, Dan and their three daughters, at the time said: “We are absolutely heartbroken to share the news of Elise’s passing tonight. She held on so long and fought so hard against an impossibly difficult set of circumstances.

“Absolutely everything that could have been done for her was done and we are so grateful she was able to make it back home to say good bye to her family before leaving us. We believe in eternal families and know we’ll see our beautiful mom, sister, wife, and daughter again. We’re so grateful for all the prayers and love that have buoyed us up in the last few days and that we know will continue to in the days ahead.”

Now, it’s been announced that her funeral, or celebration of life, will be held on Friday (March 21). A second statement published to Instagram yesterday (Sunday March 16), read: “Our families would like to invite you to join us to celebrate the life of Elise Caffee at a funeral service on Friday, March 21, 2025 at 11am. Please feel free to share this with anyone who you think would like to know. If you know Elise and have any memories to share, we’d love to hear them.”

The funeral will be held at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Cottonwood Heights, Utah. The service will also be broadcast, and more details of this will be shared on the page closer to the time.

Elise was known as a mummy travel vlogger with more then 47,000 followers. On her page, 3 Kids Travel, she described herself as an “expert travel mom who believes you can take your kids everywhere!” In her final post, just a day before she died, she wrote: “Don’t listen to anyone who says you should wait to travel til your kids hit a certain age. Traveling with little kids has its challenges but often it only gets harder to get away once they are teens.”

The driver of Elise and Dan’s car was unable to be rescued in the accident and was pronounced dead at the scene. “Our driver was killed and Elise was severely burned [and] I was uninjured,' Dan wrote on Instagram in the days after the crash. The driver, known only as Luis, leaves behind his wife, Alejandra, as well as his twin daughters, 15, and son, 12.

In the days after the accident, Elise’s family set up a GoFundMe page asking for donations for their 'friends in Mexico' who have been impacted by the accident. At the time of writing, on the afternoon of Monday March 17, the page has raised more than $75,000 towards a $85,000 goal.

Elise Caffee leaves behind her husband Dan along with their three daughters.