Bear River High Students Mourn Classmates Killed In Head-On Crash

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PLACER COUNTY (CBS13) — In the darkness, classmates came back to Bear River High School to lay flowers for their friends, and write the first of many messages to be stored in a lock box expressing their loss.

"Joe for sure was probably one of the nicest men I've known," student Max McDaniel said.

"I think everyone is just in shock over what happened so suddenly," student James Lavelle said. "No one knows how to handle it yet."

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Friends shared a picture of the best friends who died together in a violent collision while driving after school. Seniors Joe Rantz, the baseball star, and Jude Douden, the band member. The pair is shown smiling, arm in arm earlier this year.

Nate Thompson was a friend of Joe Rantz and still has the watch Rantz loaned to him.

"I'm just gonna wear it with pride or offer it back to his parents," Thompson said.

The pair was killed when Douden's white BMW lost control in the rain on Highway 49 and hit a truck in oncoming traffic. The California Highway Patrol says speed was a factor in the crash.

"They were both amazing people. Joe was talented and Jude was so nice and caring," student Karinne McDonald said.

"It kind of makes you realize how small a lot of things are that happen in your life, and how a lot o things just don't matter," student Trace Anderson said.

This small and close-knit Bear River High School is now closer than ever as they're suddenly hit with the enormity of how quickly life can be lost.

On Friday, the Placer County Sheriff's Office's Coroner's Unit confirmed the identities of the teens.