Horrific crash kills 3 young men in Marin County

CORTE MADERA, Calif. (KGO) -- An investigation is underway into a horrific crash in Marin County overnight. Three young people are dead after their car slammed into a tree, splitting the vehicle in half.

The crash happened just east of Point Reyes on Sir Francis Drake Boulevard, just a few miles east of Highway 1.

The CHP is starting to narrow in on a possible cause of this crash but say it's too early to know for sure. All victims had on their seatbelts but just one look at the car tells you why it wasn't enough.

The scene even shocked CHP officers - a Toyota Corolla torn apart with three dead men inside.

CHP Ofc. Ernesto Donis says this is one of the nastier ones he has seen.

The car was discovered on a rural two-lane section of Sir Frances Drake Blvd. in western Marin County. The call came in around midnight but no one knows how long it had been there.

"No one had seen it happen. A passerby just happened upon it and called 911," CHP Ofc. Andrew Barclay said.

Officers say there were no obvious signs the driver had been drinking. There were no bottles of alcohol in the car.

They will do toxicology tests to see if drugs or alcohol were in his system.

Investigators say it looks like the car hit a pole and some trees at a high rate of speed.

"It appears that speed may be a factor. That is definitely something we are looking into. If that's the case, it could just be a case of taking the turn too fast. Again, this is all preliminary," Barclay said. "It's a tragic situation.

It's something that we never want to have to respond to. No emergency personnel want to have to respond to something like this."

The coroner's office is still notifying next of kin but says it will likely release the names and ages of the victims later Tuesday.