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Mustang Daily Staff Report
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Rising physics sophomore Kyle Rhodes, 19, died in a car accident this past weekend, President Jeffrey Armstrong wrote in an email to campus.
“A loss of one of our own is especially difficult when our community is not together in San Luis Obispo to comfort each other,” Armstrong and Vice President of Student Affairs Keith Humphrey wrote together in the email.
The accident occurred this past Saturday on US-101 southbound, according to King City California Highway Patrol officer Michael Rigby. The investigation is still ongoing, and Rigby said he did not know if Rhodes died during the accident or afterward.
According to his Facebook page, Rhodes was from Danville, a town in northern California. He graduated from San Ramon Valley High School in 2012.
In their email, Armstrong and Humphrey wrote the accident occurred in Monterey County, which is south of the San Francisco Bay and Rhodes’ hometown.
Rhodes is the second Cal Poly student to die this summer. In June, rising biomedical engineering senior Stefan Wagner died in the waters off Spooner’s Cove in Montaña de Oro State Park.
“This is the second time we have had to share sad news like this with you this summer,” Armstrong and Humphrey wrote. “Our feelings will always be the same in these challenging times. We remain one community, and we embrace one another in the good times and the bad.”
The email reminded students that counselors are available 24/7 by phone at (805) 756-2511.
“I think that as the president and vice president said, the death of a student is always a really hard time for anybody on campus,” Health and Counseling Services Director Martin Bragg said.
Bragg said the after-hours crisis counseling is a resource students can call from home, even if they are not living in San Luis Obispo.
Kassi Luja and Sean McMinn contributed to this staff report.