Lower Lake boy, 13, dies in bicycle crash

Strangers as well as relatives and friends are reaching out to the family of a 13-year-old Lower Lake boy who was killed this week in a bicycle crash.

Marcel Lang didn't strap on his helmet before he and his two younger siblings pedaled off Monday afternoon from the small motor home their family occupies on a relative's rural property off State Route 29. The area is south of the lower tip of Clear Lake.

According to the investigating CHP officer, Marcel was riding downhill on Riata Road near Caballero Court when he was thrown from his bike and struck his head on the roadway.

Marcel, a Burns Valley Elementary student who previously lived in Santa Rosa, was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.

An aunt, Krystal Ambrecht of Santa Rosa, said Marcel had once told his mother, Francesca Lang, that when he got a driver's license he would sign up as a potential organ donor. With that knowledge, Ambrecht said, Marcel's folks donated a number of his organs.

'He was an amazing little boy,' said the aunt, a sister of Marcel's dad, Aaron Lang. 'Such a giving kid. He always thought of everybody else before he thought of himself.'

Ambrecht said her brother and sister-in-law don't have the money for their son's funeral, so she went online Tuesday to create a funding appeal at GoFundMe.com. As of Thursday evening, 27 donors had contributed $1,145.

Ambrecht said she hopes to raise enough money to help the Langs move out of the small camping vehicle and into a home in Santa Rosa, so she can be of more assistance to the family.

'I don't know what's gone wrong. I feel I need to help them,' she said.

GoFundMe: Donate to help with Marcel's funeral expenses.

Chris Smith is at 521-5211 and chris.smith@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @CJSPD.