Gone, but ‘the light remains.’ San Luis Obispo honors former Modesto couple killed by car

More than two dozen people attended a plaque dedication Saturday to honor the lives of a San Luis Obispo couple killed by a speeding vehicle.

Matthew Chachere and Jennifer Besser were walking their dog, Buddy, along Sacramento Drive near Basil Lane on the evening of Nov. 21, 2022, when they were struck by what authorities said was a speeding car and thrown into the nearby creekbed.

Chachere, 39, and Besser, 36, were found under dense brush near Sacramento Drive and Basil Lane the next day — several hours after police received a report of a dead dog in a creekbed, according to a news release from San Luis Obispo Police Department at the time.

Around 5:35 p.m. the day before, a car crashed on Sacramento Drive in the area near where the bodies were found, police said. According to the release, the vehicle hit the curb, a street sign and the bridge that spans the creek.

The driver has been identified as Daniel Angel Saligan Patricio, who has since been charged with manslaughter and is out on bail with an ankle monitor. His next court date is Nov. 2.

Several members of the San Luis Obispo Police Department attended the plaque dedication, including Chief Rick Scott and Sgt. Det. Caleb Kemp.

Kemp told The Tribune it was important for the police to attend the dedication because their role is more than enforcing the law and taking people to jail.

“As an agency,” Kemp said, “we’re here to serve the whole community.”

He said the agency has become close with Besser and Chachere’s family and wanted to support them.

Families want memory of slain children to live forever

Chachere and Besser never missed a holiday with Chachere’s family once they moved to Modesto in 2012.

Besser was very particular with holiday food, Linda Chachere said, and would always call to ensure the food would be set.

“It made it terribly hard last year and every holiday time this year for us because all I can hear is her voice,” Linda Chachere, Matthew Chachere’s mother, said.

It’s still hard for Besser and Chachere’s families to comprehend their loss and how suddenly it happened.

Both families said they were troubled by a March interview given by Saligan Patricio’s lawyer, Ilan Funke-Bilu, to the morning radio show “Up & Adam in the Morning” about their children’s case.

They said they felt like Funke-Bilu forgot about their children’s humanity and spoke about their loss like it was an abstract event.

“The way they talked about our kids was like there was nothing to it, like their lives didn’t matter,” Pati Blevins, Besser’s mother, said.

That’s when both families decided they wanted to honor their kids to keep their memory alive forever. They began working with the city of San Luis Obispo, which suggested a plaque honoring Besser and Chachere’s lives could be a good option.

The families agreed, and the plaque was unveiled Saturday morning.

San Luis Obispo City Council Member Michelle Shoresman presented the plaque to the family, adding that while she didn’t know the couple personally, she feels connected to them and their love of San Luis Obispo.

“We all love SLO and that’s one thing that I feel is really special about this area,” Shoresman said. “We’re all neighbors here and we really love each other. I didn’t know them, but I deeply miss Matt and Jenn.”

Ernie Chachere, Matthew’s father, said he hopes the plaque not only keeps his son’s and Besser’s memory alive, but also serves as a reminder for people to slow down and drive with care.

The plaque was installed on the 3400 block of Sacramento Drive, where Besser and Chachere were killed. It depicts the couple walking their dog on Morro Rock beach — one of their favorite places in the county.

“There are some people who bring a light so great to the world that even after they’re gone, the light remains,” the plaque reads.

Cal Poly establishes football endowment to honor late SLO man

Chachere was a linebacker on the Cal Poly football team from 2001 to 2005, Cal Poly Athletics spokesperson Eric Burdick told The Tribune in Novemeber 2022.

He made 106 tackles and 15 sacks during his football career, Burdick said, 65 of those tackles and 10 sacks during his senior year.

Chachere graduated from Cal Poly with a political science degree in 2007, according to university spokesperson Matt Lazier.

Chachere was passionate about football, and even coached at the high school level in Modesto.

He cared a lot about shaping the next generation beyond just their football skills, his father said.

In Modesto, he helped establish a program to help kids who didn’t want to go to college learn manufacturing and receive an apprenticeship to help them succeed without attending a junior college or taking out student loans.

At a football game on Sept. 30, Ernie Chachere said, it was announced that the Chachere family created a yearly endowment to help student athletes who needed financial assistance attend Cal Poly.

It was a decision he knows his son would be extremely proud of, Ernie Chachere said.

Couple found home in San Luis Obispo, mother says

Matthew Chachere always dreamed of returning to San Luis Obispo after he graduated from Cal Poly.

But he received a job offer in Cincinnati and decided to move there to begin his career. Chachere’s family lives in Modesto.

The former football player continued to go to the gym, where he caught Besser’s eye, Besser’s mother, Pati Blevins, told the Tribune.

But her daughter was too shy to approach Chachere at the gym, so the silent crush continued — until one night when Besser and her friend spotted Chachere at a bar.

Besser’s friend pulled Chachere off the dance floor and immediately introduced him to Besser, Blevins said.

“She called me the next day and she said, ‘I met someone,’” Blevins said. “She goes, ‘This is it. He’s the one.’ She just knew.”

Chachere received an opportunity to work at E.&J. Gallo Winery, headquartered in Modesto, as a workforce development specialist a few years later. He moved back to California, then eventually asked Besser to move with him.

She also began working at E.&J. Gallo.

Besser fit right into Chachere’s family, Matthew’s parents said.

The two were polar opposites that worked perfectly together, Ernie Chachere said.

Besser was “very organized” while his son was more of a “free spirit,” Chachere said.

They pushed each other when they needed to and also knew when to rein each other in, Natalie Walsch, a close friend of Besser and Chachere, told The Tribune.

Chachere was promoted to a position with Gallo that led him to San Luis Obispo in January 2022, which he was extremely excited about. He loved and missed the area, and finally had a reason to return.

Besser moved with him, her mother said, working her Gallo job remotely. She quickly fell in love with the area.

They loved the number of things to do — especially outdoors — and loved that their dog could join them in so many places.

“Jennifer came to life when she moved (to San Luis Obispo) from Modesto,” Blevins said. “She said, ‘We found home.’”

They walked their 110-pound dog on the same pathway on Sacramento Drive up to four times per day. Blevins said Matthew made it a point to always accompany Jennifer on the walks.

The two were inseparable through their final moment together.

“If it had to happen,” Blevins said, “I’m glad they were together because I don’t think either one of them could have survived apart.”