Vineyard Owner's Son Identified In Fatal Remote Sonoma Co. Crash

SONOMA COUNTY, CA — The Sonoma County Sheriff-Coroner's Office identified a driver who died Friday night in a solo-vehicle crash in a remote area of west Sonoma County as 35-year-old Seth Hellenthal, a Cazadero resident.

Hellenthal was driving a 1997 Dodge truck north on Bohan Dillon Road in Cazadero — near Seaview Road — around 9:30 p.m. Friday when the truck, for reasons yet to be determined, veered to the left and then off the dirt roadway, according to a California Highway Patrol spokesman.

The truck traveled 465 feet down a hillside before coming to rest, and Hellenthal died at the scene from injuries suffered in the crash, CHP Santa Rosa Area Spokesman David deRutte said.

Hellenthal reportedly died not far from Hellenthal Vineyards, a family-run business that began in 1980 when his parents, Gard and Lori Hellenthal, planted their first rows of pinot noir.

"Great expectations were missed, because he was a great kid," Gard Hellenthal told The Press-Democrat about his son's passing.

Seth Hellenthal's girlfriend, identified by the CHP as Katie Wilmore, 29, also of Cazadero, was riding in the truck with Seth the night of the crash.

Wilmore suffered major injuries in the collision, including a broken leg, but was able to climb the hillside to Bohan Dillon Road, deRutte said.

She would end up waiting about 13 hours for help to arrive.

"... The area is extremely desolate," deRutte said. "It is believed Wilmore laid near the roadway all night until a passerby located her in the morning."

Once alerted to the situation, fire department personnel arrived on scene and advised there was one fatality and one survivor.

CHP responded to the crash site at 11:02 a.m. Saturday, at which time Wilmore was airlifted to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital.

Bay City News Service contributed to this report.