Lewis County Sirens.com

Christopher Puentes-Garay pictured in a recent photo at school. / Courtesy photo

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Maria Puentes is hoping to take her son home.

Home to Los Angeles to be buried.

Christopher Puentes-Garay, a 16-year-old Rochester High School student, died unexpectedly while swimming Tuesday afternoon in the Chehalis River with one of his brothers, his cousin and another friend.

The single mother of four moved her family to Rochester just last summer, according to her sister Tracy Yanez.

“She moved her boys out of Los Angeles for a safer place to live,” Yanez said.

Puentes-Garay vanished under the water shortly after he jumped in to catch up to his cousin and her friend, according to authorities.

It happened on the 12,600 block of Independence Road, about two miles west of the bridge at Michigan Hill Road near Rochester.

Searchers found his body the following day, at the bottom of the river less than 50 yards from where he was last seen.

Thurston County Coroner Gary Warnock said an autopsy today confirmed he drowned, but he didn’t have a certain explanation as to why.

It could have been the current, or it could have been the water was very cold, according to Warnock.

“He was in apparent good health,” Warnock said. “For he, his friends and his family, it was just a normal day.”

Up until he drowned.

One thing that can happen, is when a person’s body temperature is warm and they jump into cold water, their diaphragm can constrict and make it difficult to breathe, according to the coroner.

Puentes-Garay was the oldest of four children, a boy who was the “man of the house” and would make cakes for his mother, Yanez said.

He will also leave behind five cousins mourning in Rochester.

“My 3-year-old today, said “Mom, now Chris can sit on the moon’,” Yanez said. “She understands.”

Students at Rochester High School are making T-shirts in his memory.

Maria Puentes’ managers have coordinated fundraising so she can take her son back to Highland Park, where his grandmother is, according to Yanez.

Donations can be made at Twin Star Credit Union, where a special account has been set up, she said.

A car wash is set for tomorrow at Bailey’s IGA at 10333 U.S. Highway 12 in Rochester, to start at about 10 a.m.

•••

For background, read “Search resumes for teen lost in Chehalis River” from Wednesday May 16, 2012, here

Josh Mischler, a friend of the resident, helps firefighters move some items out of the garage, while others continue to spray water and foam on the home.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Firefighters responding to a call of a possible brush fire southwest of Chehalis this afternoon found a house fully engulfed in flames.

Nobody was home at the time, but a couple arrived while crews were still extinguishing the blaze to find their single-story home gutted.

Lewis County Fire District 5 was called about smoke by a passerby on Pleasant Valley and Brown Road East. When they arrived about 3:40 p.m. the the roof on the home on Larkspur Road had already collapsed, according to fire department member Megan Van Egdom

They fought the fire from the outside.

The closest next neighbors are fairly far away and said they only noticed some smoke, Chief Eric Linn said.

Lewis County Fire Districts 6 and 15 joined them, shuttling water tenders in. The area has no fire hydrants.

The 1700 square-foot home and its contents are a complete loss, according to District 5.

VanEgdom, assistant medical service officer for the department, said the cause is unknown.

“We don’t know, they’re gonna have to bring an investigator out,” she said.

Chief Linn said they were advised there were pets in the house, but they hadn’t found them yet..

Three children live there as well, according to VanEgdom.

The Red Cross was contacted and a volunteer chaplain responded to assist the residents.

The roof collapsed before firefighters even arrived.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office has confirmed 16-year-old Tyler Gonzalez was one of many juveniles drinking alcohol at a residence near where he was run over by a vehicle and killed over the weekend.

Detectives have interviewed several attendees at the underage party and have learned who provided the alcohol, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said today.

It’s possible that person could be in trouble, but the investigation isn’t finished yet, according to Brown.

“I don’t have a lot more I can release about who provided the alcohol,” Brown said. “They’re aware. We’ve talked to them.”

The sheriff’s office is awaiting the return of toxicology test results from Gonzalez, according to Brown. They can take as long as two months.

The sophomore from W.F. West High School died early Saturday morning after he left the party and for unknown reasons laid down in the roadway, according to the sheriff’s office.

It happened about 2:30 a.m. on Saturday on Brockway Road near Chilvers Road, about a mile west of Chehalis. He was struck by an SUV.

Sheriff Steve Mansfield called it another sad and tragic incident involving alcohol and juveniles.

“Poor decisions and choices were made with the end result being the loss of a young man’s life,” Mansfield stated in a news release. “The consequences of underage drinking continue to serve as a solemn reminder of how quickly people’s lives and families can be destroyed and altered forever.”

The young people, around 10 of them, were drinking beer and hard liquor in a shop building that sits back from the home, according to Brown.

“The parents were unaware there was a party going on, they were asleep,” she said.

The Washington State Patrol investigated the incident and indicated no charges were expected for the 50-year-old driver of the SUV.

The coroner has concluded the death was an accident.

W.F. West High School students will be hosting a candle light vigil in their classmate’s honor at 7 o’clock tomorrow night in the school’s Bearcat Stadium.