Friends and family react to death of Carmel Valley mother and her 3 middle school-aged children
By Felix Cortez
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HOLLISTER, Califonia (KSBW) — A fiery car crash Sunday night took the life of a Carmel Valley mother and her three young children.
“It doesn’t seem real yet. Doesn’t seem real that they’re actually gone, not coming back,” said Joan McIntire the mother of Lisa Biakanja, who was driving at the time of the accident.
Biakanja was with her three children when the Tesla they were in collided with a tractor-trailer just after 8 p.m. on Highway 156 near Fairview just north of Hollister. The family was returning from Casa de Fruta, where they spent the day and had dinner.
“We knew something was wrong around midnight when they hadn’t come back from Casa de Fruta. We were just hoping it was car trouble. We found out this morning there were no survivors from this accident. It’s just unreal to us,” said McIntire.
Killed in the accident along with the 53-year-old mother were her son Ben, 12, and his twin sisters Leigh and Lucy, both 14. CHP investigators say that, for unknown reasons, the mother veered into oncoming traffic and collided with a tractor-trailer. Her family says Biakanja was driving an older model Tesla that was not equipped with a self-driving mechanism. The family died at the scene.
“It just seems you go along, and then it’s like they’re really not coming back, they’re not going to come back, the house is going to be empty,” said the children’s step-grandfather, Ken McIntire.
The grandparents describe the kids as active and outgoing and who had a lot of friends. Leigh enjoyed science and participating in the Sea Cadets, the grandmother said. She also played softball.
Her twin sister Lucy loved animals and raised chickens and doves. Their younger brother, who was autistic, enjoyed collecting World War II memorabilia.
Their mother was about to start a new job working with autistic children.
“It was a good time in their life and to have them gone right now seems like a terrible, incredible waste of kids’ lives,” said the grandmother.
“It’s like I can’t even believe it it’s happening, and they’re gone and I just can’t believe it,” said Tatiana Evanoff, a best friend of the sisters.
“A big part of my life is gone now. Who am I going to call when I’m having an issue? They were taken way too soon,” Evanoff said.
The children were all students at Carmel Middle School. Staff and students were notified of the tragedy Monday morning, and grief counselors, along with extra mental health experts, were brought in to help the school community cope with its loss.
“Certainly tragic news, and our hearts go out to the family and our community and what we immediately look to do is look to see how we can support their fellow students, our staff and our community and do what we always do in education, which is pull together,” said Ted Knight, superintendent for the Carmel Unified School District.
The CHP says the investigation is still active and would like to hear from anyone who may have witnessed the accident or the moments just prior to the collision.
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