The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department has identified the driver killed in Friday night’s triple fatal collision on State Route 154 near Cold Spring Canyon Bridge as 34-year-old Rebecca Vanessa Goss Bley, of Solvang.
There were two young children in the backseat of the Chevy Volt driven by Ms. Bley, but their identities were pending DNA confirmation as of Saturday evening, said Raquel Zick, sheriff’s spokeswoman.
“DNA samples, for comparison, will be sent to the Sacramento County Coroner’s Office where an ANDE Rapid DNA System will be utilized to confirm the children’s identities,” Ms. Zick said in an email.
The collision occurred around 4:45 p.m. Friday. A Chevy Camaro driven by 28-year-old John Roderick Dungan, of Santa Barbara, was traveling west on the 154 approaching Cold Spring Canyon Bridge. Ms. Bley was eastbound on the 154 just east of the bridge and a GMC Yukon driven by a 55-year-old Los Gatos man was traveling behind Ms. Bley.
“The Chevy Camaro traveled into the eastbound lane, causing the front of the Camaro to collide with the front of the Chevy Volt,” Capt. Cindy Pontes, spokeswoman for the California Highway Patrol, said in a news release. “The GMC swerved to the right and collided with the Volt. The Volt and the GMC came to rest on the south shoulder where they both caught fire, ultimately causing a brush fire.”
The Camaro came to rest in the eastbound lane of the 154 on the bridge.
Ms. Bley and the two children in the Volt were pronounced dead at the scene. The driver and 13-year-old passenger in the Yukon, whose names were withheld, were not injured. Mr. Dungan suffered major injuries and was airlifted to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital.
A two-acre brush fire broke out as a result of the collision, though the fire was quickly doused by crews with the Santa Barbara County Fire Department.
The 154 was closed for a time Friday night. The CHP investigation into the cause of the collision is continuing.
email: mwhite@newspress.com
