Vera Peck and Richard Chit

Mother and son
Vera Peck and her son, Richard Chit, were traveling in the same car when the I-35W bridge collapsed.
Photos courtesy of the St. Paul Pioneer Press

Vera Peck and her 20-year-old son Richard Chit were traveling in the same car when the bridge collapsed.

Family members said Richard, who had Down's syndrome, and his mother, were virtually inseparable.

Richard's sister Caroline told MSNBC that "one of them wouldn't survive without the other, so maybe that's just the way it's supposed to be."

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