Police identify March 19 crash victims

Published 7:01 am Tuesday, March 24, 2020

Police have released the identification of four individuals who were killed in a March 19 vehicle crash in Austin.

“Through our follow-ups and interviews, we believe the occupants of the vehicle were Lance Tyler Eastman, 28 years of age, Kala Marie Klaus, 25 years of age, and their two children,” Austin Police Chief David McKichan said in a Monday afternoon press release. “All were from Austin.”

The crash occurred at about 6:02 p.m. on Thursday, March 19, on Second Drive Southwest near 11th Avenue Southwest. Austin Police and Fire found the vehicle engulfed in flames and looking to have sustained severe damage from the crash itself prior to the fire.

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Officers were unable to observe any signs of life from within the vehicle. Investigators were later able to determine that the vehicle was occupied by an adult male, an adult female, and two children under the age of five.

McKichan said that a dog believed to have been in the car at the time of the accident was located on March 20 and returned to the family of the victims.

The cause of the crash is still under investigation.