The young man who took his life last week, sitting in his car at the top of Corral Canyon, has been identified as Sean Sanchez, 17, of El Segundo, Calif. His death, according to the L.A. County Coroner’s Office, was a result of “suicide by carbon monoxide inhalation.”
Following publication of the story last week, The Malibu Times received several e-mails from his friends. Ingrid Kepinski said in her e-mail, ” He was a truly amazing person, perhaps the next Jim Carrey or Adam Sandler due to his incredible talent and flair for comedy.”
His death left many of his friends perplexed, according to Robert Peloni, a senior at St. Monica’s Catholic High School in Santa Monica, where Sanchez had attended his freshman and sophomore years. Peloni described him as a very popular young man with many friends. Peloni said Sanchez “always had a smile” and “made everyone laugh.” He left last year but was due to return for his senior year.
Sanchez was an active young man. He surfed, he played in a soccer league and his ambition was to be an actor and a performer. He was intending to audition early next year in a talent competition in Los Angeles.
His friends saw no obvious signs of depression, which made his suicide even more shocking to them. After the students were told of his death by Monsignor Lloyd Torgerson, the pastor at St. Monica’s, about 30 went to the top of Corral Canyon, to the parking lot where he died, and left flowers and built a little makeshift shrine.
He leaves behind his parents and a teen-age sister. Services were held in the South Bay. The students at St. Monica are planning a benefit in his memory for later this semester.
Vicky Newman contributed to this story.