A California family is mourning an unimaginable loss after a mother and her two daughters were killed in a fiery highway crash while returning home from a concert celebrating a teenager’s upcoming birthday.
Vanessa Sue Wetmore, 41, and her daughters, Kylie Wetmore, 20, and Kloie Wetmore, 16, died in a three-vehicle collision on Highway 99 near Bakersfield, California, early on August 16, 2026.
What was supposed to be a special family outing became a tragedy that left their surviving relatives struggling to understand how three beloved family members could be lost in a single night.
A Concert Trip That Became Their Final Journey
According to a fundraiser organized by a family member, Vanessa and her daughters had traveled to Fresno to attend a concert featuring Thee Sacred Souls, La Lom and the Womack Sisters.
The outing was planned to celebrate Kloie’s upcoming 17th birthday on August 20.
The family was returning home when the crash happened shortly before 12:45 a.m. on the southbound lanes of Highway 99, north of Seventh Standard Road.
Their vehicle, a 2022 Honda Accord, collided with a 2019 BMW 530i and a 2022 Chevrolet Colorado pickup truck.
The impact caused the Honda to catch fire. Vanessa, Kylie and Kloie died at the scene, according to authorities.
The California Highway Patrol investigated the collision, which involved a vehicle traveling in the wrong direction on the highway.
A Family Left With Three Devastating Losses
The deaths of Vanessa and her daughters left their family facing a loss that relatives described as almost impossible to comprehend.
In the fundraiser, family member Dale Schoettler explained that what should have been a weekend filled with happy memories had instead become a time of profound grief.
Vanessa was not only a mother but also a loved one whose presence mattered deeply to her extended family. Kylie and Kloie were sisters with their own relationships, interests and futures ahead of them.
Their deaths in the same crash meant their relatives were suddenly grieving three people at once.
For those who knew them, the tragedy was about far more than a highway collision. It was the loss of a mother and two daughters who had shared a family outing and expected to return home together.
Kloie’s Birthday Was Only Days Away
One of the most heartbreaking details was the reason for the trip.
The concert had been arranged to celebrate Kloie’s 17th birthday, which was approaching on August 20.
Instead of gathering to mark another year of her life, the family found itself making funeral arrangements and trying to cope with the sudden deaths of three relatives.
Kloie’s older sister, Kylie, had been just 20 years old. Both sisters had their own lives ahead of them, making their deaths especially painful for their surviving loved ones.
The fundraiser also noted that Vanessa left behind a son, while the girls left behind their brother.
He was due to turn 16 on the same day Kloie would have turned 17.
That shared birthday became another painful detail for the family to confront as they began to process the loss.
What Investigators Learned About the Crash
The California Highway Patrol initially reported that one vehicle was traveling northbound in the southbound lanes when the collision occurred.
Investigators later confirmed that the BMW was traveling in the wrong direction. The BMW’s driver, identified as 44-year-old Jamie Rodriguez, suffered major injuries and was taken to a hospital.
Two people in the Chevrolet pickup sustained minor injuries.
Authorities continued investigating how the BMW entered the wrong side of the highway and whether drugs or alcohol played a role. At the time of the reports, potential charges had not been determined.
The investigation was important not only for establishing what happened but also for answering questions the victims’ family would inevitably have about the circumstances of the crash.
A Fundraiser to Help the Family Rebuild
After the tragedy, relatives established a GoFundMe campaign to help cover funeral and memorial expenses, immediate family needs and support for Vanessa’s surviving son.
The campaign explained that the family was struggling to deal with the financial and emotional consequences of losing three loved ones at once.
Donations offered a practical way for friends, relatives and strangers to support the family during an extremely difficult period.
The fundraiser also gave people a way to remember Vanessa, Kylie and Kloie as individuals rather than simply as victims named in a news report.
Their loved ones emphasized that they were deeply cherished members of a family whose lives had been changed forever.
Remembering Vanessa, Kylie and Kloie
The tragedy on Highway 99 serves as a painful reminder of how quickly a routine journey can turn into a life-changing event.
Vanessa and her daughters had gone to a concert to celebrate an important milestone. They were returning home when the collision occurred, leaving their family to face a future without them.
For their relatives, the memories of the concert trip will forever be connected to the loss that followed.
The family’s fundraiser asks people to remember the three women with compassion and to help support the loved ones who must continue living with their absence.
Their story is not only about the dangers of wrong-way driving. It is also about a family outing, a birthday that never came as planned and three lives that mattered deeply to the people around them.
Vanessa, Kylie and Kloie were heading home after a night meant to bring them joy. Their family now carries the difficult task of remembering them while learning to live with a loss that came far too soon.