Date: May 22, 2006
Contact: Greg Sandstrom
Phone: (360) 337-7077
No. 06-39

Coroner's Office Releases Cause and Manner of Death for Two 14-Year-Olds

PORT ORCHARD, WA—The Kitsap County Coroner’s Office issued a statement today detailing its investigation into the recent deaths of two Kingston Junior High School students. Based on a thorough scene investigation by the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office, interviews with friends and family by both the Sheriff’s Office and the Coroner’s Office and the autopsies performed by the Coroner’s Office, the coroner has ruled both Blake Whitworth and Zachary Kvistad did take their own lives in acts of suicide.

Both offices investigated the issue of whether the acts involved a “choking game,” but no accounts by friends or family indicated that either boy had shown interest in this activity.

“It is always difficult to go through a tragedy such as this,” said Greg Sandstrom, County Coroner. “It affects the entire community, and especially those investigating the case. Our deepest sympathy goes out to both of the boys’ families and friends, and we would rather that these deaths never occurred.”
 

To contact the Kitsap County Public Information Office, 
call PJ Callahan at 360-337-4481 or email: pjramos@co.kitsap.wa.us