One of the seven crew members aboard the ill-fated Coast Guard plane that crashed after a mid-air collision Thursday night has been identified by family friends as Danny Ray Kreder II, an outgoing 22-year-old from a tiny unincorporated central Texas town.
Kreder, who lives in a Rocklin-area apartment complex, graduated in 2005 from Connally Independent High School near Elm Mott, Texas, where his stepfather works as a mechanic, said Dean Kirkpatrick, the transportation and food service director for the school.
Kirkpatrick told The Bee he was with Kreder's stepfather this morning when officials informed him that Danny Ray Kreder was on the C-130 Hercules that collided with a Marine helicopter over the Pacific Ocean near San Diego.
"They called his stepdad this morning, and they brought his mother by here, and they went home," Kirkpatrick said. "He was at work. We found out this morning about 7:15."
Kirkpatrick said the couple then left for a flight to California, where urgent search efforts are underway to find Kreder, his six crewmates and the two occupants of the Marine helicopter.
"I've known Danny for a long time," Kirkpatrick said. "He's just an exceptional kid, liked doing stuff outdoors, fishing and hunting.
"I remember when I came here and began as a rookie bus driver out there on his route. He would always be the one to show me the route and where to stop to pick up kids. He would get the kids to get under control."
Kreder is the eldest of three boys, Kirkpatrick said, and loved working on cars and was into stock car racing.
He said Kreder's stepfather and mother visited the young man in Sacramento earlier this month.
"His mother and stepdad just got back from visiting him two weeks ago, they had a real good trip and everything," he said.
Kreder was reared in Elm Mott, a community of about 800 or 900 people near Waco. The school, which serves several area communities, has about 600 students, and word began spreading there today about Kreder being on the Coast Guard flight.
"Not everybody knows it yet, but everybody in the school knows about it," Kirkpatrick said.
Call The Bee's Sam Stanton, (916) 321-1091.
What You Should Know About Comments on Sacbee.com
Sacbee.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. (See our full terms of service here.)
Here are some rules of the road:
• Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the "report abuse" button to notify the moderators. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.
• Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own child to hear.
• Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.
• Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at hand. If you want to discuss an issue with a specific user, click on his profile name and send him a direct message.
• Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.
• Don't repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the first time.
• Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That's spam and it isn't allowed.
• Don't use all capital letters. That's akin to yelling and not appreciated by the audience.
You should also know that The Sacramento Bee does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "report abuse" button to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at feedback@sacbee.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.
If you submit a comment, the user name of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them, but you may ask our staff to retract one of your comments by sending an email to feedback@sacbee.com. Again, make sure you note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us your profile name.
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.