It was a somber first day back after Thanksgiving at Woodward Middle School.
The day began with a difficult announcement from the school principal. Thirteen-year-old Baden Biddle and his 52-year-old father, Troy, were both dead, killed in a horrific hit-and-run accident near San Pablo, California.
"You didn't know them?" a middle school parent was asked.
"No, we didn't know them," said Elysia Nelson. Nevertheless, Nelson said the entire community is feeling the loss.
>> See photos from the crash scene here
"Really sad," Nelson said. "Our hearts go out to the mom and the daughter and the rest of the family."
Her daughter said the mood inside the school was melancholy.
"Some people had to leave class," said Maia Nelson.
"Because they were so sad?" she was asked. She nodded.
"Was he in your grade?" she was asked. "Yeah, I think so," she said.
According to the California Highway Patrol, the Biddles were in a car with three other relatives on Sunday. They were traveling eastbound on I-80. A man with a long history of driving under the influence was also heading east. Investigators said he slammed into their vehicle, struck another vehicle and then took off. He was captured.
The Biddles died at the scene. Also dead are two relatives --Daryl Horn and his 14-year-old son, Joe. Only the driver, Horn's older son, survived. The family said they were returning from an annual father-son basketball tournament.
Troy Biddle was a partner in his own Seattle law firm.
The Bainbridge Island School District provided grief counselors and a quiet room for those who needed it.
Several neighbors said they were too broken up to appear on camera, but all of them described the Biddles as a wonderful family.
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