Owings, MD – A U.S. Coast Guard seaman with ties to Calvert County was killed this month in a fiery motor vehicle crash in California, press reports stated. The Feb. 14 crash that claimed the life of Daniel Christopher McKnew, 25 of Owings also resulted in the death of a Coast Guard firefighter, identified as Samantha Crowell, 21 of New Jersey.
According to a report in the Press Democrat, the Hyundai Genesis McKnew was driving was traveling on Highway 1 in Bodega Bay, CA around 1:45 a.m. PST when McKnew apparently lost control on a curve near Doran Park Road. The report stated the vehicle spun off the road, crashed into a large tree and caught fire. The crash remains under investigation by the California Highway Patrol.
McKnew was a 2009 graduate of Northern High School who had been involved with the Dunkirk Volunteer Fire Department prior to enlisting in the Coast Guard in 2012, an obituary posted by Rausch Funeral Home stated. He had recently re-enlisted and was studying to become a medic at the Coast Guard Training Center in Petaluma, CA.
Services for McKnew were held Tuesday, Feb. 23 at Covenant Community of Jesus the Good Shepherd in Owings. His family has requested that contributions in his honor be made to the Wounded Warrior Project.
Contact Marty Madden at marty.madden@thebaynet.com
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