Five dead, including three children, in Mendocino Coast crash

Three children were among the five dead after a 2003 GMC went off a cliff Monday on a remote stretch of the Mendocino Coast, landing upside down on a large rock, according to CHP.

The bodies of the three children, whose named and ages have not been released, were found outside the vehicle around the shoreline, said CHP Officer Olegario Marin. Two adults from West Linn, Oregon were found inside the GMC that went off the road between the communities of Rockport and Westport. Their names were also withheld Tuesday.

The vehicle was traveling on Highway 1 south of Juan Creek when it pulled into a dirt turnout, and for reasons unknown careened over a 100-foot cliff, Marin said. It’s unclear when the crash occurred and some time could have passed before the wreckage was spotted by a passerby around 3:39 p.m., he said.

An hourslong recovery continued past dark and drew multiple agencies to the remote scene around 20 miles north of Fort Bragg.

Firefighters rappelled down the cliff to reach the partially submerged car, said CHP Officer Brian Henderson on Monday, part of two-man helicopter crew from the agency’s Northern Division Air Operations base in Redding that participated in the recovery.

You can reach Staff Writer Nick Rahaim at 707-521-5203 or nick.rahaim@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @nrahaim.