“It hurt like a dull-edged saw cutting me in half," said Rachel’s father, regarding her death.
It is a fairly small community where just about everyone knows everyone else and no one means any harm by their actions. But it was, three years ago, and still is, a community where there are bars where people go to unwind and drink a lot of booze and then they get into their vehicles and drive on home. The town is Big Sur, Nevada, but it could easily be a lot of other small towns across the country.
Will people ever learn?
On July 27, 2011 Judge Terrance Duncan began considering the sentence for two men who were involved in Rachel Wiesjahn’s death three years prior. He planned to finish the sentencing on July 29 after he had time to consider the amount of time that had already been served by the two men.
Here’s the way it happened. Rachel was riding with Christopher Tindall, who had been drinking heavily. Tindall lost control of his SUV and it rolled on Highway 1 at about 1:30 a.m. Rachel climbed out of the car, and then was crushed to death by another vehicle, a Ford pickup, which crashed into the SUV wreckage. The Ford was driven by Mark Hudson, who had also been drinking heavily.
Both of the men pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide, and both of them apologized to the families whom they have caused such grief. Tindall received credit for time spent in jail and was put on probation for the next three years. The incident has affected his life greatly, and he has improved his life greatly and been working as an electrician down in Texas. Hudson received a five year prison sentence which will be adjusted for the time he has already served.
Family members and friends cried and spoke about how much they have missed Rachel since that day. Rachel’s best friend said, "But to tell you the truth, the bar scene is still pretty much the same," Marron said outside court. One wonders how it could go back to “business as usual” after such an event.
