Locals killed when vehicle plunges over cliff

Another Moses Lake woman dies in unrelated motorcycle accident

ELLENSBURG (AP) — Two 19-year-old friends died and a third man was injured during a camping trip over the weekend when the Jeep Cherokee they were riding in plunged 600 feet off a cliff.

Tom Melbye and Nickolas Garcia died in the accident early Saturday, about 15 miles north of this Kittitas County town, sheriff's deputies said.

Cameron Haynes, a student at Central Washington University, was injured but was able to call emergency dispatchers. He was treated at Kittitas Valley Community Hospital for injuries to his head and face.

Haynes' brother, Shea, was also on the trip but was sleeping at the group's camp on Upper Reecer Creek when the crash occurred around 2:15 a.m., said Undersheriff Clayton Myers.

The other three men had taken Melbye's Jeep out on some trails around their campsite when Melbye lost control of the vehicle while attempting a turn on the canyon rim, said Myers.

Search and rescue teams had to reach the vehicle using a logging road in the area.

Investigators believe alcohol may have been a factor in Saturday's accident, Myers said.

"The higher you go in the mountains, the less room there is for error," he said. "You don't have much room for mistakes."

Melbye and Garcia were childhood friends who graduated from Moses Lake High School in 2004. Melbye was attending Washington State University and Garcia was a student at Eastern Washington University.

In a separate and unrelated incident near Stratford, a 28-year-old Moses Lake woman died in a motorcycle accident after misjudging a curve.

Sage L. Steffler was out riding with a group of riders when they witnessed her go off the roadway while in the S-curves near the Stratford grain depot, according to the Grant County Sheriff's Office.

The accident happened just after 9 a.m. Saturday.

GCSO deputies and EMS responded, but Steffler died at the scene. The other motorcycle riders in the group did attempt CPR.

The exact cause of death has yet to be determined, but the Grant County Coroner will conduct an autopsy today.

— Staff reporter David Cole contributed to this report.