Two dead, two injured in accident south of Malott
By Al Camp
Chronicle staff

     A two-vehicle accident April 25 about six miles south of Malott claimed the lives of two people and sent two others to Okanogan-Douglas District Hospital in Brewster.
     Brady C. Freeman, 21, Tonasket, was driving northbound around 5:35 p.m. when his car collided in the southbound lane with an SUV driven by Noemy Rivas, 31, Bridgeport, according to a Washington State Patrol accident report.
     Both vehicles, which were destroyed, came to rest in the road in the Sand Dune area about 14 miles south of Okanogan.
     The SUV caught fire after its occupants had escaped, according to the patrol report.
     Passers-by dragged Freeman's vehicle away from the fire while he and his two passengers were trapped inside, according to the report.
     Freeman was pronounced dead at the scene as was a passenger, Jocelyn M. Denham, 21, Bend, Ore. Next of kin for both have been notified, according to the patrol.
     Both were students at Pacific Lutheran University, according to a university press report. Freeman was a junior offensive lineman on the Lutes' football team.
     Rivas, who suffered an ankle injury, was taken to the hospital in Brewster.
     Boone C. Freeman, 21, Tonasket, was critically injured in his twin brother's vehicle, said a PLU report. (Reports had Boone Freeman home from hospital Sunday)
     He, too, was transported to Brewster hospital, according to the Washington State Patrol.
     He was a junior offensive lineman at the University of Puget Sound, Tacoma.
     Both brothers are graduates of Tonasket high School, where they were co-valedictorians at Tonasket High School.
     Not injured were Carlos M. Rivas, 32, Bridgeport, and Andres Perez-Martinez, 16, Okanogan, who were passengers in Noemy Rivas' vehicle.
     All were using restraints except Denham, the patrol reported.
     Cause of the accident remains under investigation.
     Members of the PLU campus community gathered late Friday in Olson Auditorium to remember their friends and to offer one another mutual support in this time of grief, said Dr. Loren Anderson, PLU President, in a statement posted at the college's web site.
     There was also a pause for remembrance and reflection during the campus Relay for Life event that was held on campus overnight Friday into Saturday morning, he said.
     "A community gathering to remember Jocelyn and Brady and to pray for the recovery of Boone" was held Saturday immediately following the conclusion of Relay for Life, Anderson said. Grief counselors and support staff were available.
     The accident was about 1.5 miles north of the scene of a fiery accident March 17, 2007, in which a van struck a motor home head on. That accident also claimed two lives.