SEQUIM — Fighting to maintain his composure, Pete Holden sighed deeply, steeling himself against the pain he was feeling over his daughter’s death.

Dressed in workclothes, the man with a large, graying mustache told Sequim High School students the story of his daughter, Heather, who died too young in an alcohol-related car crash.

“When they told me about Heather it took the insides of me and ripped them right out,” Holden said Thursday as addressed an assembly of juniors and seniors taking part in the “Grim Reaper” program Thursday at Sequim High School.

Heather, a 19-year-old Sequim High School graduate, was one of three young people killed in a car crash New Year’s Eve.

Nineteen-year-old Aaron Gambell and 22-year-old Paul Boynton were also killed in the Palo Alto Road crash, which injured three others.

The Washington State Patrol said alcohol was a factor in the crash.

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