Mother, daughter killed in ‘freak accident’ on Thanksgiving when vehicle hits black bear

A mother was killed along with one of her two young children on Thanksgiving when their car collided with a black bear in rural Northern California, the California Highway Patrol said.

Sarah Rae Rohde, 27, of Copperopolis was going between 55 and 60 mph westbound on State Route 4 in Vallecito about 6 p.m. Thursday when a black bear walked into the two-lane road in front of her car, the CHP said. Rohde’s 19-month old daughter Ariana Harris and 4-year-old son Julian Harris were both in the vehicle.

The force of the collision launched the bear through the front windshield and caused a “major intrusion into the passenger compartment of the vehicle,” the CHP said in a news release. Rohde and her daughter were killed.

“It just seems like a freak accident, I don’t know how to reconcile that in my head,” Rohde’s fiancé, Dajon Harris, told KTXL. “I don’t know if I’ll ever be the same.”

The boy suffered minor injuries and was treated at UC Davis Medical Center, officials said.

Harris said he was thankful the couple’s son survived.

“I think every day I’m going to thank whoever that he is still here,” he said.

Drugs and alcohol did not appear to a play a role in the crash. Rohde was wearing a seat belt and her children were properly fastened in, said CHP Officer Toby Butzler.

Collisions between vehicles and animals in that area of Northern California aren’t rare but typically involve deer or cows, Butzler said. About twice a year authorities will respond to a crash involving an ursine, he said.

It is denning season for bears and they are out “eating anything and everything,” said Andrew Hughan of the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.

“Unfortunately this is a sad case of wrong time, wrong place for the bear and the car.”

joseph.serna@latimes.com

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