Former UNF student passes away in car crash

Andy Moser and Sam Chaney

*Correction 7/16 @ 11 a.m.: The article originally stated that the former student was 24. His father confirmed that he was 22.


Former UNF student Greg Yutuc has passed away, according to his family. The 22-year-old died in a car crash Saturday, July 14, a Facebook post from a family member said.

A News4Jax article has stated that, according to the Florida Highway Patrol, the crash was on Interstate 295 on the Buckman Bridge.

Spinnaker reached out to Yutuc’s uncle, Cristino Macavinta, Jr., on Facebook, who offered a few words in remembrance of his nephew.

“Greg is probably the kindest, most loving, gentlest person I know,” he said. “He served God well and [was a] wonderful son to his parents, a great big brother to his siblings, and a great, loyal and dependable friend to everyone, including us, his immediate relatives. The family is in great mourning now but we take comfort that God has another loyal soldier and son by His side.”

Yutuc was a member of the UNF faction of The Navigators, which is a “worldwide missions organization,” according to their website.

“There is no way to capture exactly how greatly Greg cared for people. Not just his friends, or his family, but anyone he met,” Nick Griffith, a friend of Yutuc’s from the Navigators told Spinnaker. “In more than two years of knowing Greg, there is not one interaction with him that didn’t start with an amazing hug and a genuine smile, and not a single interaction that ended without the words ‘I love you.’ And he meant it from the bottom of his heart every single time… He was more than a friend, Greg was family: and not just to me, but to anyone he met. He will be missed greatly, but he will never be forgotten. We rejoice in knowing that he is standing face to face with the savior of the world, praising him with a joy we cannot begin to understand yet.”

“He was always the most joyful guy around,” Rob Vincent, another friend and co-member of the UNF Navigators said. “[Greg] had the biggest smile, and he loved the Lord and everything he did with a passion that was contagious.”

“He was joyful and faithful as a friend, and humble and kind as a leader,” Nicole Ordway added. “To know him was to love him.”

Spinnaker will update this story when more information becomes available.

This story was updated on July 16 at 11:06 a.m.

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