An adult and three teenagers from Upland, California, congregations, including First Church in Upland, died June 23 in a church van — pickup truck collision west of Barstow, Calif.
Rebecca Vetterani, 28, a seminarian intern at First Church, died in the three-vehicle accident that shut down U.S. 395 west of Barstow for hours, according to a Los Angeles Times report. Her husband, youth director Tom Vetterani, was severely burned and in critical condition following the crash.
The youth group had spent the week doing maintenance work and outreach at the 35-member Valley Church of Bishop, camping overnight near Mammoth Lakes. “Those who were injured and killed had just spent a wonderful week being selfless servants in the name of Jesus Christ. In giving of their time to work at a church and among the people in a Native American congregation in Bishop, Calif.,” Upland’s pastor, Gary Hindman, said in a statement on the church’s Web site, www.uplandpres.org. The names and memorial service arrangements for the teenagers killed are on the Web site.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the California Highway Patrol reported a Ford pickup towing a travel trailer was northbound when it collided with the southbound van carrying the church group. The trailer that had been attached to the Ford then collided with a Toyota that was also southbound. A passenger in the Ford, identified by the San Bernardino County coroner’s office as a 50- to 60-year-old woman from Walnut, also was killed. The driver of the Ford and the two people in the Toyota were hospitalized.
The California Highway Patrol is investigating the accident.
