Rainier girl killed, brother injured in wreck
Saturday, September 20, 2003 9:19 AM PDT
By Hope Anderson
Printable version
E-mail this articleRAINIER -- A 17-year-old Rainier High school student, Lola Triplett, died Friday morning in a one-car accident on Nicolai Road outside Goble, Ore. Her brother, Gabriel Triplett, 19, is in critical condition at a Portland hospital, according to Columbia County Sheriff reports.
Gabe Triplett was driving his blue Pontiac Lemans east on Nicolai Road on the way to school. His sister and their 15-year-old brother, Mitchell, were passengers. He lost control of the vehicle around 7:30 a.m., according to sheriff reports.
Investigators recreated the accident scene Friday by painting orange dashes on the asphalt of Nicolai Road, showing that the car crossed the lane, veered off the narrow road and hit a tree near a creek bed.
Gabe Triplett is in critical condition with severe head injuries at Oregon Health & Science University, according to a OHSU spokeswoman. Mitchell, a junior, sat in the back seat and suffered minor injuries. All three were wearing seat belts
The three teenagers are the children of Alice Triplett of Rainier, and Loren Triplett of Beaverton, Ore. They have an older sister, Erica Reed of Honolulu.
The brothers played football for Rainier High and Gabe Triplett, a senior, also wrestled and ran track. Lola, a junior, was an honors student and played soccer. Friends of the family described her as "very sweet" and "very caring, loved animals." She was the type to bring home a stray dog or cat.
"She was looking forward to everything everyone else is ... prom, 4-H. My kids are all crushed," said Tammy Archambeau of Rainier, a friend of the Triplett family.
Rainier High School gathered the students for an assembly Friday to break the news, Principal Connie Kennedy said.
"They were in shock. Rainier is a small community and the Tripletts have lived here a long time," she said.
The students had the option to stay and talk about the loss after the assembly Friday morning. Half the school stayed, said Jared Archambeau, 16. Almost all the students went home before the school day ended, he said.
"They were well-liked kids," Jared said. "I've known them since I was 8. When we were little, there was never a day we weren't together."
Jared said the car was Gabe's first. He had just taken out a loan to buy it a few days earlier.
At the high school football game Friday night, the team held a moment of silence in honor of Lola's memory and dedicated the game to Gabe's recovery, Kennedy said.
"Everybody's going to notice that they are gone. We're used to seeing them everywhere," said Kala Jones, 16.
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