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Jason Liao (I believe his screen name is JasonL) passed away on Dec. 11th (I will post the article in the next thread). He was a friend of mine since 5th grade, but we kinda lost touch after we went off to college. I believe he was a member of this forum. All I know is that he drives a red '96 corvette and he autocrossed with it. I only know this because I saw pictures at his funeral last night. I wasn't as close to him over the last several years as much as I would like, and I don't have any recent pictures of him. If any of you have pictures, please add it to this thread.
I'm sure you guys were a bigger part of his life than I was these last few years, so if you know of any other forums that he belonged to, please post this up in them and add a link to this thread. I will forward this link to his family so they can see how much of an impact he made in the corvette community.
Vehicle ran into light pole before stopping against a tree
By MARC CABRERA
Herald Staff Writer
A North Monterey County family is mourning the loss of its son after he was killed in a single-car accident near Marina early Saturday morning.
Jason Liao, 25, of Salinas, was driving his 1996 Corvette on Reservation Road at about 2:20 a.m. Saturday when, for unknown reasons, the car veered off the road and struck a light pole. It continued on into a small gully before coming to rest against a tree.
Marina Department of Public Safety officers arrived and found Liao dead at the scene. An autopsy will be conducted Monday to determine the exact cause of death. Officials with the department of public safety could not be reached for comment Saturday.
Liao's father, Shu Liao, got the news at 6 a.m. Saturday morning, when officers arrived at his door and handed him his son's wallet and employee identification badge.
"They came to the door and gave me this," he said, pointing to the items officers had retrieved at the site of the accident. "That was the worst thing you could imagine."
Shu Liao said his son was born Feb. 17, 1979 in Monterey, and grew up in the family's residence near Oak Hills Road off Highway 156. Jason Liao graduated from North Monterey County in 1996 and attended the University of California at Berkeley, where he earned a degree in engineering.
"He loved engineering, and anything related to cars," Shu Liao said.
Liao had lived in Campbell and Sunnyvale following graduation, but moved back into his family's home last year after accepting an engineering position with CTB/McGraw-Hill.
Liao said his son was a fun-loving person with a great sense of humor. The family was also very tight-knit.
"He was always very close to us. Every night my wife would wait for him to come back home," he said. "It didn't happen last night."
Officers at the crash site told Shu Liao that his son may have been speeding at the time of the accident, but he believes that Jason likely fell asleep at the wheel. He did not know what he was doing driving down that road at that hour.
"I still can't figure out who he went out with and why he was out on Reservation Road," Shu Liao said. "He was usually careful."
The family was expected to drive out to the Bay Area today to celebrate the birthday of Jason's older brother, Kenneth Liao. Instead, the family will gather to mourn the loss of its youngest member.
"The people who knew him were very close to him," Shu Liao said. "It's just broken a lot of people's hearts."