“Any death is heartbreaking, when we lose loved ones so young it is even more shocking and painful,” Tulalip Tribes Chairman Mel Sheldon told the tribal-owned newspaper. He asked people on the reservation “to hold your loved ones close and to give comfort to each other during this trying time.”

Tulalip Tribes spokeswoman Niki Cleary added, “We’re definitely in shock.”

The two young female victims were going to be juniors at Marysville-Pilchuck High School.

“We are grieving today over the devastating loss of four young people, all current or former students in our district,” Superintendent Becky Berg said. “We extend our support and sympathy to all of their families. This is yet another reminder of how fragile life is and how we must again bond together as a community.”

It was less than a year ago, on Oct. 24, 2014, that the two communities faced another tragedy together. An M-P freshman brought a gun to school and killed four classmates and himself in the cafeteria.

The Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the four people who died in the crash Aug. 18, saying they all died of accidental drowning.

They are:

•15-year-old Ariela Vendiola of Marysville.

•16-year-old Lynnishia M. Larson of Marysville.

•21-year-old Tyson D. Walker of Tulalip.

•22-year-old Dylan D. Monger of Tulalip.

The four were in a truck that left the roadway and landed upside down in a fisheries rearing pond near the 7500 block of Totem Beach Road.

A call came in to 9-1-1 around 3:30 a.m. that day reporting that a truck had gone off the roadway, over a foot-tall concrete embankment, through a cyclone fence and into a pond, Snohomish County sheriff’s spokeswoman Shari Ireton said.

Holly Reed, assistant manager at the Tulalip Hatchery, said she was downstream from the wreck monitoring chinook salmon when she saw the truck pulled out upside down Monday morning. By noon she was using a monitor to check the water quality at the crash site.

She said ironically that usually this time of the year there is no water in that pond, but now it’s about 10 feet deep. But in February 1 million coho will be there.

Reed said work was done recently on that bridge, and fisheries was concerned that the railing wasn’t high enough. They were concerned kids would climb over the railing and climb on the net that keeps birds away from the fish.

“They came around the corner, lost control and ended upside down in the water,” Reed said of the accident victims, adding family members had been there that morning.

Mourning continued throughout the week. More than 100 people gathered near the accident scene late Aug. 19 to light candles, sing and remember the victims. The bridge fence was decorated with balloons and flowers.

People turned to social media like Facebook to express condolences to the families and communities.

“My daughter was in this. Why oh my god? Why did god take her?” Emma Larson of Seattle wrote.

To which Shannon Lee Walburn Ogden replied: “Emma – I am sorry – Lynnishia was beautiful, smart and caring. I went to see Ty last week and met her while visiting. I am devastated for your loss.”

Joyce Chester wrote: “Prayer for heart broken. I worked with Tyson. What a polite guy,”

Tracy Ness Jacobson of Marysville added, “Prayer for the ones they left much, much too soon. So sad.”

Alethia Cyrus wrote: “I’m sad to see my neighbors in mourning and have sent out prayer requests and such. My brother’s been comforting the family. It is a tragic loss, as all such losses are.”

Shelley Booher Ricker of Seattle wrote, “Prayers for all the families who lost loved ones in this tragic accident.”

And Shannon Lee Walburn Ogden wrote: I work on the rez, live on the rez and my nephew lost his sister. I am sad for my family and my community and everyone effected. As a community we have been through a tremendous amount of pain this year.”

Ironically, one of Monger’s final Facebook posts is of a poster of a beautiful sunset that says, “Focus on the great things life gives you.”