Investigators still putting together evidence to determine factors in fatal crash

While investigators continue to suspect that alcohol may have been a factor in the one-car crash in Oakfield early Saturday morning that claimed the lives of three young people, it appears speed may have been a factor, as well.

Chief Deputy Gordon Dibble said Monday that crash investigator Deputy John Duyssen believes the initial indications are that the speed of the vehicle was too great for the driver to negotiate the curve at the accident scene, resulting in the crash.

The car rotated clockwise when its tires hit the shoulder. The drivers side hit the utility pole by the side of the road and it rolled over on its roof. A passenger in the back seat was ejected from the vehicle, according to Dibble.

Matthew Ware, 22, Joshua Durham, 21 and Allyson Galens, 20, were killed in the crash.

The group had been at the Elba Onion Festival earlier in the evening, but Dibble said investigators have yet to determine what time they left.

It's not yet known where they might have gone -- if any place -- after leaving the festival.

There were empty beer bottles at the scene of the crash, but investigators do not know if they are in any way related to the crash.

"We are still looking into that and will know more when the medical examiner's office completes its investigation," Dibble said.