A GoFundMe for a California mother and her two teen daughters killed by a wrong-way driver has raised roughly $31,000 as the family faces back-to-back birthday tragedies.
Vanessa Schoettler and her daughters, Kloie and Kylie, died early Sunday when their Honda Accord was engulfed in flames on Highway 99 north of 7th Standard Road near Bakersfield, according to the California Highway Patrol. The crash occurred just before 12:45 a.m. On August 16.
The three had spent Saturday evening at a concert in Fresno, a trip meant to celebrate Kloie turning 17 later this month, loved ones said. The family was driving southbound on Highway 99 when a northbound vehicle traveling the wrong way slammed into their car and a third vehicle.
“What should have been a weekend filled with memories and a celebration of Kloie turning 17 has instead left a family trying to comprehend the loss of a mother and her two daughters all at once,” the GoFundMe page dedicated to the victims said.
“There are simply no words for the magnitude of this loss or for what this family is facing in the days, weeks, and months ahead,” the fundraiser continued.
The GoFundMe aims to raise $50,000 for funeral and memorial expenses, immediate family needs, and supporting Vanessa’s son as he navigates life after the unimaginable loss of his mom and sisters. The boy will turn 16 on August 20 — the same day as Kloie’s birthday.
A 44-year-old man driving a 2019 BMW 530i and his passenger were taken to the hospital with severe injuries, according to CHP reports. Two passengers in the third vehicle, a 2022 Chevrolet Colorado driven by a 41-year-old woman, sustained minor injuries.
The CHP is still investigating which vehicle was traveling the wrong way and whether alcohol or drugs were factors in the crash. Southbound Highway 99 was temporarily closed with a detour in place as investigators worked the scene.
In the viral moment that preceded the tragedy, Vanessa Schoettler had taken her daughters to a concert in Fresno for what was supposed to be a joyful night marking Kloie’s upcoming 17th birthday. The family lived in the Central Valley area, and the concert was part of a celebratory weekend that ended in catastrophe on their drive home through Kern County.
The GoFundMe has drawn hundreds of donors as word of the triple fatality spread across social media and local news outlets. The fundraiser specifically notes that Vanessa’s son now faces not only the grief of losing his mother and two sisters but also the challenge of navigating his own milestone birthday without them.
Anyone with information about the crash is urged to contact the California Highway Patrol Bakersfield office at (661) 396-6600.