Mount Si student dies in car crash

A popular Mount Si High School sophomore was killed instantly Sunday afternoon when she lost control of the car she was driving westbound on Interstate 90, about 10 miles east of Ellensburg.

Fifteen-year-old Erica Cain of Fall City was returning home with her mother, Debra Cain, from the Crescent Bar resort on an island in the Columbia River, north of Vantage, said State Patrol spokesman Rich Magnussen. The teen, who had a driver's permit, was traveling in the left lane when she veered off the road about 1 p.m. She "overcorrected and cranked the (steering) wheel to the right, which caused the vehicle to go broadside and roll," Magnussen said.

The Cains' gold BMW hit a flat gravel median that separates eastbound and westbound lanes. The car rolled twice before coming to a rest on its wheels, Magnussen said. Both mother and daughter were wearing seat belts.

Debra Cain, 44, was taken to Kittitas Valley Community Hospital with minor injuries. She was released Sunday evening.

Yesterday, teachers and students at Snoqualmie's Mount Si High School gathered in the school auditorium to grieve, Principal Dave Humphrey said.

"She was a very well-liked student and a very bright young lady," Humphrey said. "She had an outgoing, wonderful personality, and that's why so many students have been touched by this. She was loved by everybody."

A chaplain from Eastside Fire and Rescue and a mental-health expert joined the school's three counselors and school psychologist to help distraught students, Humphrey said.

In the past five years, the school — which has about 1,250 students — has struggled with the loss of at least seven youths, including Amanda Baldwin, whose stepfather killed her, her sister and her mother in 1999. Several students also died in car accidents during that time.

"The community and school has been through a lot," said Humphrey, who plans to discuss Cain's death at tomorrow's student assembly organized to mark the first anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

"Many of the feelings were the same with regards to Erica's death," the principal said. "It's going to be a sad week for us."

Funeral arrangements for Cain are still being made.

Sara Jean Green: 206-515-5654 or sgreen@seattletimes.com