Laughlin Trip Proves Fatal for 2 Orange Couples

The two couples from Orange were excited about their trip to Laughlin, Nev., to celebrate the end of their young children’s soccer season and their first free weekend in months.

Stephen and Katrina Costello and Andrew and Rhonda Vanderlaske left the children with their grandparents and headed out for a weekend at the Colorado River resort town.

They never made it back.

All four died Sunday afternoon on their way home when a Toyota veered into their lane near the state line and slammed head-on into their SUV, officials said. The driver of the Toyota was also killed.

The collision occurred north of Needles atop a hill on U.S. 95, a mile south of the California-Nevada border.

California Highway Patrol officials said the couples were wearing seat belts, but the impact was so severe that they died instantly. Stephen Costello was driving the SUV, a Honda Pilot.

The Toyota burst into flames, killing the driver, whose name was not released. His passenger, Lauren McCormick, 59, of Hemet, was taken by helicopter to University Medical Center in Las Vegas and treated for severe burns.

The Costellos had one child, a 7-year-old girl. The Vanderlaske family included a 6-year-old girl, a 2 1/2-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl from Rhonda Vanderlaske’s previous marriage.

Katrina Costello’s mother, Kathleen Jones, 57, of Las Vegas, met her daughter and son-in-law in Laughlin. She recalled that the couples had been looking forward to the getaway.

“Their weekends were always tied up,” she said. “They were ‘kidded out,’ and they decided to have an adults-only party.”

The two couples were among a group of nine who stayed at the Ramada Express Hotel and Casino, gambling, relaxing and sampling buffets. The Vanderlaskes won $700 on the slot machines.

“We all just relaxed,” Jones said.

Steve Costello, 40, a truck driver who delivered milk to school districts, also coached the Orange Junior Soccer Club and the Purple Panthers, a softball team for 5- to 7-year-old girls.

Costello was popular with the kids he coached and with their parents. There would frequently be kids trying to get on his team, said Greg Ziemba, 43, of Orange, a director of coaches and managers for Orange-Villa Park Girls Softball League. The team would have 12 players but Costello would always take extra players, he said.

“He never turned a kid down,” Ziemba said. “He had a heart for everyone he met.”

His wife, Katrina, 37, worked in accounting for a Newport Beach physician.

“They were inseparable,” Jones said. “They were very active and family-oriented.”

The Costellos met Andrew and Rhonda Vanderlaske, both 39, nearly two years ago through their daughters, who were on the same softball team, Jones said.

The Vanderlaskes also loved sports. Andrew Vanderlaske was a tool store manager, and his wife was a receptionist for an Irvine landscaping company, said her mother-in-law, Barbara Vanderlaske, 64, of Belfair, Wash.

On her drive home to Las Vegas from Laughlin, Jones said, she called her daughter on her cellphone. There was no answer. She tried repeatedly, with no response.

On Monday, a worried Jones called police and turned on the television.

“It came up in the news,” she said. “Oh my God, my worst nightmare has happened.”

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Times staff writer Natasha Lee contributed to this report.