After losing his wife and two young children in a fiery crash on Highway 154 last week, Max Gleason wrote heartbreakingly about his loss on Tuesday, as the multi-agency investigation continued into the tragic head-on collision near the Cold Spring Bridge.
Rebecca Vanessa Goss Bley, 34, and the couple’s two children — 2-year-old Lucienne Bley Gleason and 4-month-old Desmond Bley Gleason — died at the scene of the collision on Friday afternoon.
Authorities have not yet released the names of the children killed, pending DNA testing, but Gleason confirmed them in a social media post.
“In thinking about the death of Vanessa, Lu and Dez, I am finding some small solace in the thought that their light, collectively, was so strong that it required such strong evil to extinguish their light,” Gleason wrote on his Facebook page. “Theirs was not blowing out a candle with a breath, it was dumping a bucket of water on a wildfire. It needed something so strong, so violent, in order to counterbalance and honor the light that they were in this world.
“I have only realized this fact this morning. This is four days after they died. I felt the extinguishing of their light so profoundly, so acutely, that first night. And every day since it comes in waves – some more intense, others milder. But I am realizing the full intensity of their light now with the people that are still here.
“The amount of feeling in the world right now for my dead babies is unreal. People are loving and hurting all across the world. The messages keep coming in, and from people I have never even met or knew existed. Vanessa touched so many people. Her life force was so large that people are coming out of nowhere and feeling this loss.”
Gleason wrote about his profound loss, and his fears of losing what he has left of his family – his memories:
“I am so scared that those memories are going to fade, they will be replaced by photographs and words. Their essence will no longer be available to me. I am so sad about that. It is the worst sorrow in this universe. My identity has been gutted, and now I have the long, difficult task of creating a new identity. The thought of that is so unknown and terrifying.”
The California Highway Patrol said the crash was caused by John Roderick Dungan, 28, of Santa Barbara, who was driving his black Camaro westbound on Highway 154 at about 4:45 p.m., when “for unknown reasons” he crossed the double-yellow lines into opposing traffic.
He slammed into Bley’s vehicle, which then was hit by another vehicle from behind and caught fire.
Dungan was extricated from the wreckage of his car, and was airlifted to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital with life-threatening injuries. He remained in critical condition Tuesday afternoon, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The CHP is taking the lead on the crash and the criminal investigation into Dungan, Capt. Cindy Pontes told Noozhawk.
“For the sake of the investigation and getting warrants for everything possible, looking at every possible angle at what was the cause of the collision, at this time we’re working with the (District Attorney’s) Office to try and determine, based on the evidence we have and what evidence we’re still obtaining, what charges to file against the driver of the Camaro, Mr. Dungan,” she said.
When the CHP decides what charges to pursue, that information will be released, she said.
Gleason, in his Facebook post, has alleged that Dungan deliberately crashed into his wife’s car.
Pontes said the question of Dungan intentionally causing a collision is being investigated.
“We’re definitely looking into that, of course, as we do with all investigations that involve fatalities,” she said. “It’s a normal practice of ours; we do look at that for every fatal accident.”
The allegation that Dungan deliberately caused the crash is likely tied to his criminal and mental-health history, detailed in recent Santa Barbara County Superior Court records for a stalking and firearms-related case.
He has been accused of stalking an ex-girlfriend, and also faces a charge related to guns and ammunition police found at his home during a February check-the-welfare call, which led to an involuntary psychiatric hold at a mental-health facility.
According to Superior Court records, Dungan sent a troubling text message to every contact in his phone in late February, which prompted the check-the-welfare call by the Santa Barbara Police Department.
Officers searching his house discovered 15 guns, 20,000 rounds of ammunition, and body armor plates.
“All of these are not necessarily illegal, but abnormal,” Santa Barbara police Detective Megan Harrison said during a May 31 preliminary hearing on the charges.
Dungan had body armor plates in the driver’s seat and headrest of his Camaro – presumably the same car he crashed last week – and had buried a disassembled assault rifle and large-capacity magazines in the backyard of his residence, according to hearing testimony.
Police placed him on a 5150 hold — an involuntary psychiatric commitment — at a Pasadena mental-health facility.
“Client admits to sending text messages to a friend with harm to self and harm to others; Client has made multiple references to UCSB mass murderer Eliot Rodgers,” a Santa Barbara County Behavioral Wellness assessment form states.
Dungan was admitted to Aurora Behavioral Health Care, Las Encinas, on Feb. 23 and discharged two days later.
Facility discharge documents were filed in court by Dungan’s defense attorney, William Makler.
Dungan was “calm and cooperative” after being treated with medication, denied suicidal and homicidal thoughts, and “was able to formulate a logical plan for his own self-care,” according to the Aurora paperwork.
Court records indicate he has participated in several residential treatment programs since February. Another document indicates he was recently in jail custody and released in late September, although that was not confirmed by the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department.
His paperwork for supervised release, filed on Sept. 27, included GPS monitoring with an ankle bracelet, living at Recovery Santa Barbara, and taking all prescribed medications.
The stalking charges are related to an ex-girlfriend, to whom he wrote “love-hate notes” with vague threats, according to Harrison.
He left letters and presents at her home after they broke up. He also went to her house several times and, when no one answered the door, went into the backyard to approach the back door, according to court testimony.
A different former girlfriend testified that she was scared of Dungan and how he acted after they ended their relationship.
His behavior during the May hearing also worried Judge Thomas Adams, who specifically asked Makler about Dungan’s mental health.
The exchange in the judge’s chambers, as transcribed by the court reporter, went like this:
The Court (Adams): “So, I’m concerned. I’ve been observing the defendant and he just sits there and – (indicating facial gestures). Are you sure he’s not 5150 right now?”
Makler: “I am positive.”
The Court: “Wow. Then he’s really a strange dude.”
Makler: “Conceded.”
Adams then asked whether he should admonish Dungan from the bench or whether Makler would do it, and the defense attorney said he would take care of it, and hadn’t seen his client’s facial expressions.
“It’s a scary turn-off for me,” Adams said.
In later testimony, Makler said Dungan’s father and other family members also owned firearms, and bonded over them.
“This is a case where someone wrote a note, arguably a suicide note; but for the fact he owned firearms, we would not be here,” Makler argued, and asked the judge to dismiss all charges.
Adams ordered Dungan to trial on two of the three charges, dismissing an allegation of having a concealed weapon in a vehicle.
The case has a Friday court date scheduled for a readiness-and-settlement conference.
Police Department spokesman Anthony Wagner referred questions about Dungan’s case to the CHP.
— Noozhawk managing editor Giana Magnoli can be reached at gmagnoli@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.