This is the article in yesterdays paper about my two friends who passed away early tuesday morning.
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Night out in SF ends in fatal crash
2 best friends from Santa Rosa die, another buddy injured, when car leaves Hwy. 101, overturns into creek
The two men from Santa Rosa, best friends since seventh grade, died together in the fog-bound dark beside Highway 101 early Tuesday morning.
Kyle Stephen Blood and Joseph Bradbury, both 25, were killed when Bradbury lost control of his car, which struck a divider, crashed through a chain link fence and landed upside down in a creek near Novato, the CHP said.
Another passenger, John Sampson - the third in a tight-knit trio of friends who met at Comstock Junior High - survived the 3:30 a.m. crash with moderate injuries and was being treated at Marin General Hospital, the CHP said.
Bradbury wasn't wearing a seat belt, CHP Officer Patrick Ensley said, and it appears that Blood wasn't either.
The three friends apparently were returning from a night out in San Francisco, where they had earlier planned to get a hotel room, family members said.
Sampson, 24, of Santa Rosa told investigators that the three had had some drinks in San Francisco, but the degree to which alcohol was a factor wasn't yet known, Ensley said.
It's also not known whether speed was a factor, he said. While the fog was heavy at the time, that's not believed to have played a role.
Bradbury's mother, Betsy Marra, said Sampson told her Tuesday that her son swerved to avoid something in the road.
The investigation is continuing and a witness, who saw Bradbury's 1999 Acura Integra veer out of control, also was being interviewed, Ensley said.
Blood, a 1997 Piner High School graduate who loved heavy metal music, flew home Sunday from Denver for a week-long leave from the Navy, said his father, John Blood.
On the floor of his bedroom, Blood's suitcase was still mostly packed. He re-enlisted last year and was a petty officer 2nd class, his father said, recalling the day five years ago that he drove his son to the Santa Rosa military recruiting office where Kyle departed for boot camp.
"Outside of today, the most painful day that I recall was when he went away," he said.
Blood was stationed at sea aboard the USS Wasp, an amphibious assault ship, for six months in 2002, supporting U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
"We didn't want him any closer than he had to be, but he was bored, he wanted to be closer to the action," said his mother, Denise Blood.
Since they first met, Kyle Blood, Joe Bradbury and Jack Sampson had been "like brothers," said Hannah Vleck,
Amid the tangle of sorrow that wrapped the men's families on Tuesday, there was little more to say.
The men were considerate and kind, they were guys who liked to have fun and explore life, their families said.
Bradbury, also a 1997 Piner High graduate, was 6-feet 5-inches tall with a smile to match.
"Giant," his mother said. "He wouldn't hurt a fly."
"A happy-go-lucky guy," his sister said.
He worked as a safety officer in a Santa Rosa group home for youths, a job he'd found five years ago and grown quickly to love.
"He really loved the kids," his sister said.
He lived in a Range Avenue apartment with a Christmas poinsettia on its balcony ledge.
thanks to everyone in my last journal for your concern.
im going to attending kyle's funeral on monday and joe's right after the new year.these are hard times right now and sometimes when things like this happen i come to appericate life more and more each day..never knowing when something could go wrong.just makes you think ya know?
sometimes i don't know why bad things happen to such good people..it really hurts and eats you up inside when the ones you care about are suddenly gone in an instant.
thats the way life goes i guess
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Night out in SF ends in fatal crash
2 best friends from Santa Rosa die, another buddy injured, when car leaves Hwy. 101, overturns into creek
The two men from Santa Rosa, best friends since seventh grade, died together in the fog-bound dark beside Highway 101 early Tuesday morning.
Kyle Stephen Blood and Joseph Bradbury, both 25, were killed when Bradbury lost control of his car, which struck a divider, crashed through a chain link fence and landed upside down in a creek near Novato, the CHP said.
Another passenger, John Sampson - the third in a tight-knit trio of friends who met at Comstock Junior High - survived the 3:30 a.m. crash with moderate injuries and was being treated at Marin General Hospital, the CHP said.
Bradbury wasn't wearing a seat belt, CHP Officer Patrick Ensley said, and it appears that Blood wasn't either.
The three friends apparently were returning from a night out in San Francisco, where they had earlier planned to get a hotel room, family members said.
Sampson, 24, of Santa Rosa told investigators that the three had had some drinks in San Francisco, but the degree to which alcohol was a factor wasn't yet known, Ensley said.
It's also not known whether speed was a factor, he said. While the fog was heavy at the time, that's not believed to have played a role.
Bradbury's mother, Betsy Marra, said Sampson told her Tuesday that her son swerved to avoid something in the road.
The investigation is continuing and a witness, who saw Bradbury's 1999 Acura Integra veer out of control, also was being interviewed, Ensley said.
Blood, a 1997 Piner High School graduate who loved heavy metal music, flew home Sunday from Denver for a week-long leave from the Navy, said his father, John Blood.
On the floor of his bedroom, Blood's suitcase was still mostly packed. He re-enlisted last year and was a petty officer 2nd class, his father said, recalling the day five years ago that he drove his son to the Santa Rosa military recruiting office where Kyle departed for boot camp.
"Outside of today, the most painful day that I recall was when he went away," he said.
Blood was stationed at sea aboard the USS Wasp, an amphibious assault ship, for six months in 2002, supporting U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
"We didn't want him any closer than he had to be, but he was bored, he wanted to be closer to the action," said his mother, Denise Blood.
Since they first met, Kyle Blood, Joe Bradbury and Jack Sampson had been "like brothers," said Hannah Vleck,
Amid the tangle of sorrow that wrapped the men's families on Tuesday, there was little more to say.
The men were considerate and kind, they were guys who liked to have fun and explore life, their families said.
Bradbury, also a 1997 Piner High graduate, was 6-feet 5-inches tall with a smile to match.
"Giant," his mother said. "He wouldn't hurt a fly."
"A happy-go-lucky guy," his sister said.
He worked as a safety officer in a Santa Rosa group home for youths, a job he'd found five years ago and grown quickly to love.
"He really loved the kids," his sister said.
He lived in a Range Avenue apartment with a Christmas poinsettia on its balcony ledge.
thanks to everyone in my last journal for your concern.
im going to attending kyle's funeral on monday and joe's right after the new year.these are hard times right now and sometimes when things like this happen i come to appericate life more and more each day..never knowing when something could go wrong.just makes you think ya know?
sometimes i don't know why bad things happen to such good people..it really hurts and eats you up inside when the ones you care about are suddenly gone in an instant.
thats the way life goes i guess
VIEW 25 of 25 COMMENTS
mauzer:
Yeah Ian still acts, so I met him becuase he was cast in my friends short film that I was working on. He is really cool.
litheum182:
sorry sweetie. I didn't know that you knew them. I hope your x-mas went alright despite that. again....i'm sorry for your loss