Teens killed in Tuesday crash in Conifer were on trip after graduation

Teens killed in Tuesday crash in Conifer were on trip after graduation
Investigators looking into possibility of alcohol or drugs involved
By Yesenia Robles, The Denver Post
Posted: 05/11/2016 10:57:22 AM MDT
Updated: 05/12/2016 01:11:22 AM MDT

After 18-year-old Jake Whitting graduated from high school Saturday, he kicked off his summer vacation with a trip to Colorado, accompanied by three friends from school.

The trip ended in tragedy Tuesday after Whitting lost control of the truck he was driving while on Foxton Road near Conifer. It rolled off an embankment and landed in a creek.

Whitting, from Glen Head, N.Y., and two of his passengers were dead at the scene.

They were identified as John Yoder, 19, of Denver, and Akinwumi "AJ" Ricketts, 16, from Nigeria.

A third passenger, Marshall Otter, a 17-year-old from Kansas, was transported to a hospital with serious injuries. He is expected to survive.

Announcement from St Jphn's Military School

Jake Whitting, AJ Ricketts & John Yoder, R.I.P.: Military Schoolers Killed in Crash
Thursday, May 12, 2016 at 6:03 a.m.

At this point, the cause of the crash hasn't been pinned down.

But the CSP notes that "alcohol and/or drugs are being suspected and will be investigated by the coroner."

In the meantime, Yoder's Facebook page has turned into a memorial for him and the others who lost their lives.

KDVR - Video 4 teenagers involved in deadly rollover crash near Conifer identified
by Chuck Hickey, Updated at 10:47pm, May 11, 2016