‘Deeply loved’ Ki-Be student killed in hillside crash on last day of school
A 16-year-old student at Kiona-Benton City High School was killed Friday when the pickup he was a passenger in flipped down a steep hillside south of Benton City.
Hundreds of students and community members turned out for a candlelight vigil Saturday night at the high school parking lot to remember Harlan Kelso.
He died on the last day of school in the town of about 4,000 in the Lower Yakima Valley
“He was kind, respectful and the sort of young man any parent would be proud to call their own,” his parents, Keith and Nickie Kelso told the Tri-City Herald on Monday. “He loved his family, he loved his friends, and he was growing into a capable man who made us very proud. Harlan was loved beyond measure.”
Superintendent Pete Peterson told the Herald that Saturday’s event “very touching and heartfelt.”
“It goes to show that the community rallies around its school and its kids,” he said.
Harlan was riding in a Toyota pickup about 7:30 p.m. Friday when the truck started going down the McBee Grade road into Kiona, Lt. Justin Gerry told the Tri-City Herald. The gravel road connects to Chandler Butte overlooking the Horse Heaven Hills and the Yakima River.
The 16-year-old driver lost control and the pickup left the roadway. It rolled several times and Harlan was thrown from the truck. He died at the scene, Benton County Coroner Bill Leach said.
Investigators believe he was not wearing a seatbelt.
Benton County detectives are still trying to determine why the driver lost control, but they believe he wasn’t impaired, said Gerry.
The driver, whose name has not been released, was taken to an area hospital with injuries that weren’t life-threatening.
Nickie Kelso shared her thanks on the Kiona Benton Bears Fan Facebook page for the outpouring of support for her son.
“Every note, every meal, every story about Harlan, every person who has shown up for our family has mattered, more than you know,” she wrote.
“There is comfort in seeing the impact our son had on the people around him. Through your words and actions, you have reminded us that Harlan was deeply loved.”
His parents urged people to remember Harlan for the life he lived and the people he loved.
“Please, remember these were good kids,” they wrote. “Just kids grew up in a rural community, doing many of the same things generations of Benton City kids have done before them. Though we are heartbroken, we do not want people to remember Harlan through the lens of a single, tragic moment.”
Harlan loved riding ATVs and logged thousands of miles in the mountains and down forest roads, often riding with his sister holding onto him, they said.
“Those miles together are memories we will always cherish because that was Harlan — covered in mud, a smile on his face and nowhere else he’d rather be.”
This story was originally published June 8, 2026 at 12:20 PM.