The two people killed in a Sunday afternoon collision near the Lompoc Federal Correctional Complex reportedly were a Lompoc couple.
A GoFundMe page has been created to help the family of the victims, Ruben and Bertha Betancourt, pay for funeral expenses.
By Monday night, the crowd-sourcing fundraising site had raised $3,185 in pledges toward the $5,000 goal.
The collision between two sedans occurred shortly before 12:30 p.m. Sunday on Santa Lucia Canyon Road near Klein Boulevard, according to Santa Barbara County Fire Capt. Dave Zaniboni.
No new details about the crash — including the names of the victims — were released by authorities on Monday, as a California Highway Patrol officer claimed the Air Force was handling the investigation, and a Vandenberg Air Force Base spokeswoman said the CHP was in charge of the probe.
On Tuesday morning, a Vandenberg spokesman said the request made early Monday afternoon for details about the incident had been passed “up the chain.”
While the crash site is Air Force property, it is a public road, often used as a route into the city of Lompoc.
Bertha Betancourt was 57 years old, while Ruben was 51, according to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Kelly Hoover.
A son of the couple reportedly was in critical condition at a local hospital following the crash.
Another person also was injured in the collision.
The Betancourts, who are survived by two sons, two daughters, three grandsons and two granddaughters, considered family their number one priority, according to the GoFundMe site.
— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.