White Pines Wreck Probe Ongoing

Officer Mike Maddox with the San Andreas office of the California Highway Patrol said the investigation into who was driving the car that crashed on Blagen Road in White Pines on May 11 and killed two juveniles is still under way.

“We are still waiting on test results from the crime lab to complete the report,” Maddox said Thursday.

Ernest Mann, 16, and Steven Ferrari, 17, were killed when a 1997 Oldsmobile 88 careened off northbound Blagen Road and collided with a tree at 8:43 p.m. Ferrari was pronounced dead at the scene and Mann was flown to a Modesto hospital where he later died from his injuries.

Nick Tuana, then 16, suffered serious injuries in the crash. He and the two deceased boys were riding in the back seat of the car and were not wearing their seatbelts, the CHP said.

Two unidentified 17-year-old boys riding in the front seat were strapped in and suffered moderate injuries. Neither youth has admitted to authorities who was behind the wheel at the time of the collision.

The CHP obtained DNA samples from all of the Oldsmobile´s occupants to determine who was driving when the vehicle crashed. Those samples were sent to the Department of Justice crime lab.