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Uploaded: Tuesday, August 25, 2009, 6:08 PM
Coroner releases name of Caltrain victim
Catrina Holmes, 13, identified as the Palo Alto girl who took her life last Friday night
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by Jay Thorwaldson
Palo Alto Online Staff
Catrina Holmes, 13, of Palo Alto was officially identified as the girl who stepped in front of a Caltrain late Friday night, ending her life.
The Santa Clara County Medical Examiner-Coroner's Office late Tuesay afternoon confirmed her identity, which already was widely known in the community.
Holmes was the daughter of Thomas J. Holmes, a well-known aerospace engineer, and Natasha Holmes.
Her name was being withheld by school and counseling agency officials but was extensively published on Twitter and Facebook, two social-networking services. A link on Twitter points to an extensive posting of photos of Holmes at different ages.
Her parents are reportedly in isolation.
Her death has rocked Palo Alto emotionally, as it follows two earlier adolescent suicides on the Caltrain tracks, at least one suicide attempt by another teenager, and an earlier suicide of a 29-year-old Palo Alto woman.
School, city, Caltrain officials, health care officials and counselors are discussing putting together a community-wide coalition to design and implement an aggressive mental-health program targeted at adolescents and families in an effort to prevent future suicides.
And Liz Kniss, president of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, said the board's Health and Hospital Committee, which she also chairs, will take up a proposed "Suicide Prevention Task Force" on which the council mental health staff has been working since June.
Kniss said she proposed the task force following the second adolescent death in early June, and Nancy Pina, head of the county's Mental Health Department, has been working on it since.
She said she is well-aware of the complexities and individual circumstances surrounding each death and of how the deaths each cause lifelong heartbreak in families.
But she said the intent of the task force will be to design a program that will be fully integrated into county mental-health services and that would complement local community efforts.
News archive:
■ Catrina was active, honest, private, friend says
■ Caltrain calls for community mental-health effort
■ District: Kids' emotional health a top concern
■ District worries about suicide 'cluster'
■ Police step up presence at schools, tracks
■ Religious groups to speak on supporting teens at Aug. 31 panel
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Posted by Frank Lee, a resident of the Palo Verde neighborhood, on Aug 25, 2009 at 9:34 pm [Post removed due to disrespectful comment or offensive language]
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Posted by sharon, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Aug 25, 2009 at 9:42 pm
In the best interests of everyone in Palo Alto shut this blog down now
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Posted by Inot, a resident of another community, on Aug 25, 2009 at 9:46 pm I agree with Sharon. There is no need for the public to know the name either. Just look at the first comment. Disgusting. Shut this commentary down.
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Posted by Resident, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on Aug 25, 2009 at 9:54 pm I disagree that we, the community of Palo Alto, should not know the identity of the victim when our kids are finding out from facebook, and each other. We should be given the information as adults also need to know. However, since other threads are kept for registered users only which in effect keeps many of us away from posting, this should be done here.
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Posted by YSK, a resident of the Old Palo Alto neighborhood, on Aug 26, 2009 at 10:47 am
YSK is a member (registered user) of Palo Alto Online It's simply devastating. My heart goes out to the girl, and her family. As to the registered user request being in place; it is fine to keep out insensitive or disrespectful postings, but I am afraid it is taking away a safe outlet for some of the younger posters who want anonymity and now can't find it here. This is the one place they know their parents log on to for information, and if the kids have information they want adults to see, it's now being lost to more unmonitored forums like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Bebo. Shutting down a thread does not fix what happened. It only appeases people still living in the three network, two newspaper era.
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Posted by JustMe, a resident of the Duveneck/St. Francis neighborhood, on Aug 26, 2009 at 4:59 pm
JustMe is a member (registered user) of Palo Alto Online I think that one thing that may be happening here is that suicide is a very dramatic statement. Watch the programs thrown at kids on TV, notably the Disney Channel, it is all about drama, at a time in life where kids tend to be overly-dramatic anyway. We teach our kids to communicate with drama or violence in the media: Movies, music, TV shows, even commercials. They suck up this information on "communication" and those who don't properly filter it, for one reason or another, use it as taught.
What could possibly be more dramatic than a statement through suicide? Romeo and Juliet did it. What we are not doing is teaching the message that suicide is not a good way to send a message.
I am also cocerned about "fear of a confusing future" for some kids. As they leave an environment they are comfortable with with their friends and routines and face a frightening new world of college or whatever, if they are not properly prepared, supported, and comforted, it is very frightening indeed. I remember going off to college, I had no idea what to expect. I got on the plane alone not knowing what was waiting for me on the other end, I was too afraid even to realize or say how afraid I was. Yeah, I dropped out.
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Posted by Bru, a resident of the Crescent Park neighborhood, on Sep 10, 2009 at 1:39 pm
Bru is a member (registered user) of Palo Alto Online very insightful and nice comment, just me
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