BRINNON — A 19-year-old Quilcene High School graduate died Wednesday morning of injuries she suffered during a crash on U.S. Highway 101 in Mason County on Wednesday.
Family, friends and Quilcene schoolchildren as young as 12 were mourning the loss of Rochelle E. Orton on Wednesday.
The 2006 graduate died at Harborview Medical Center hospital in Seattle after she received serious head and torso injuries in the four-car crash near Purdy Creek at 8:14 a.m. Tuesday.
She was one of six injured in the crash.
Her high school sweetheart, Kevin Vandenberg, 20, of Quilcene, was riding in her 1989 Volkswagon Golf and was at home recovering from minor injuries on Wednesday.
He and the other four were treated and discharged from Mason General Hospital the day of the wreck.
At the time of the crash, Orton and Vandenberg were heading north on U.S. Highway 101 from Tacoma to visit her family and her father, John, who is seriously ill with cancer.
Taylor Larson, 16, of Shelton, apparently fell asleep at the wheel and crossed the center line, according to the State Patrol.
No charges had been filed in connection with the crash, said Trooper Brian George, State Patrol spokesman, on Wednesday.
“The case is still under investigation at this time,” George said.
