Teen's final moments before fatal crash

Seventeen-year-old Jessica Dawdy told her parents she wouldn’t be long when she went with friends to take some vacation pictures Thursday morning in the Mendocino National Forest. She would be back at camp in time for lunch, then some off-road driving lessons with her dad, she promised.

But only one of Dawdy’s friends, the driver of the car carrying the teens, came back. Nathan Winter, 20, was disoriented and mumbling. He told Dawdy’s parents she was dead.

“He was totally out of it, stuttering and talking. He told us Jessica was dead,” Dawdy’s father, Jess Dawdy, said. “We went up there as quickly as possible to see if there was anything I could do. But she died instantly.”

Jessica Dawdy was killed Thursday in a single-vehicle accident on forest road M-10 near Bear Creek Campground in the Mendocino National Forest. The area is about 30 miles from Upper Lake.

Officials said the crash occurred when Winter looked away from the forest road. When the vehicle started to go up an embankment, Winter braked and lost control of the Jeep, which then traveled up a steep embankment and overturned.

Neither Dawdy nor a second passenger, a 16-year-old Forestville girl, were wearing seat belts, the CHP said. The younger girl, who has not been identified, was also injured but is recovering, Jess Dawdy said. She wandered away from the crash, became lost, and was found later by campers looking for her. Winter, a Sunnyvale resident, suffered minor injuries, the CHP said.

“Nate was driving because (Dawdy) couldn’t,” Jess Dawdy said.

The teen was one week shy of the date that she could legally drive passengers with her California driver’s license.

Dawdy, who had just completed her sophomore year at El Molino High School, was active with the school’s choir and was considering careers in education, culinary arts or fashion design, Jess Dawdy said.

She had been a Guerneville resident since the age of 11, when she moved to the area with her mother, Kimberly Dawdy.

She was the oldest in her class at school, after she was held back a grade at a young age, Jess Dawdy said.

She was also among the most popular, he said.

“Everyone enjoyed hanging out with her. She had dozens and dozens, I want to say hundreds, of friends,” he said. “She was a really good listener and someone you could trust and count on. She made everyone feel special.”

The night before she died, Dawdy was at her best, laughing and hanging out with friends, Jess Dawdy said.

She, Winter and another friend stayed up late Wednesday night.

“They were talking and playing, doing joke things, laughing and giggling,” Jess Dawdy said.

Jessica Dawdy planned to spend the next afternoon with her dad in an off-road driving lesson in her Jeep, a car she loved and took pride in driving, Jess Dawdy said.

She was just learning off-road driving skills and “fell in love with Jeeping,” Dawdy said.

“She was so happy that day,” he said. “She was so excited when I told her we would go four-wheeling that afternoon. She was excited to learn new stuff.”

The crash occurred at about noon Thursday, the CHP reported. Dawdy said while Jessica’s teenage friend walked to get help, Winter stayed with the car. A passing vehicle spotted him and drove him back to the Dawdy family’s campsite. The teenage girl was found later by campers after she became lost and injured from walking barefoot on the hot road in 100-degree heat, Dawdy said.

Jessica Dawdy’s parents drove to the site of the crash after learning what happened and stayed with their deceased daughter until help arrived. Jess Dawdy was not sure how long he and his wife waited. But lack of cell phone service in the area meant that “there was a major delay in getting word out,” he said.

Dawdy is survived by her parents, Jess and Kim Dawdy of Guerneville, and her 3-year-old sister, Aleta Dawdy.

A memorial is planned at the Veterans Memorial Building in Guerneville at 11 a.m. Saturday and her family is raising funds to build a memorial bench in her honor.

Staff Writer Glenda Anderson contributed to this report. You can reach Staff Writer Laura Norton at 521-5220 or laura. norton@pressdemocrat.com.