By the time students started showing up for Monday morning classes at Dos Pueblos High School, rumors had already been circulating about the deaths of three teenagers in a multi-vehicle collision just 30 miles away on Highway 1 outside of Lompoc the previous evening. The only official information at the time, according to a 60-word statement from the Santa Barbara County Fire Department Sunday night, was that three victims were pronounced dead on scene, and two more taken to the hospital with major injuries, following an incident with at least four vehicles involved.
At 8:59 a.m., Principal Bill Woodard sent out a community-wide message via ParentSquare, confirming to the public that the three killed in the collision were in fact three students from Dos Pueblos High School: 18-year-old senior Jake Curtis, 17-year-old junior Michael Ochsner, and 15-year-old sophomore Alexander Wood. According to sources close to the Dos Pueblos community, the three teens were returning from a lifeguard training course held earlier in the day at Jalama Beach.
“We want to extend our utmost sympathy to the family and friends of these three students,” Woodard said. “The DPHS community is close-knit and supportive, and I thank you all for keeping us and the family and friends impacted in your thoughts.”