The names of victims involved in two separate fatal crashes that occurred within hours of each other at the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area were released Monday. Yucaipa resident Stephanie Ann Katin, 26, was killed Saturday after being partially ejected from a rented Yamaha Rhino all-terrain vehicle that slid sideways down a 30-foot sand dune. Katin sat in the right front passenger seat. The vehicle lost traction when Katin’s 29-year-old husband, Paul, turned left and tried driving it down the dune after reaching its crest, California Highway Patrol Officer Gil Caldera said.

The Yucaipa couple wore the stock lap- and shoulder seat belts that came with the vehicle during the 12:43 p.m. incident, Caldera said. Paul Katin suffered no injuries and the crash is still under investigation, Caldera said. Nearly an hour and a half later that same day a 14-year-old Downey boy was killed in a second crash.

Richer Erl Masse was the unrestrained passenger of an ATV Rhino, Imperial County Deputy Coroner Henry Proo said, when the driver drove over a sand dune. The recreational vehicle landed on its front bumper and ejected Masse on impact, California Highway Patrol Officer Enrique Romero said. The Rhino’s roll cage landed on top of Masse as the vehicle overturned, Romero said. The accident started when the driver’s boot became lodged under the brake, causing the accelerator pedal to remain down, Highway Patrol Officer Wes Boerner said. The 16-year-old driver from Santa Ana approached the crest of a dune around 30 mph, Romero said. Masse suffered major head injuries that he later died from at Pioneers Memorial Hospital in Brawley, Romero said.

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