CATO - When Cody Hoag found out Saturday morning that Andrew Mapley had been killed in a car accident, he couldn't believe it.

Not just because Mapley, 18, was a fellow Cato-Meridian High School graduate with whom he played baseball. This was the second person Hoag knew who had passed away in three days.

Two nights before, Auburn resident and Cato-Meridian High graduate Nathan Vargason was killed in a car accident. Hoag, 19, said he also knew Vargason, 22, who was friends with his brother.

“I know quite a few people who knew both of them, too,” Hoag said while he was at the Cato-Meridian recreation center. “To have one thing like this happen, and then to hear about another friend in an accident, it is hard to take.”

In a small town like Cato, where almost everyone knows everyone, the whole community feels the effect when one member is lost. But residents and friends were still trying to cope Monday with the fact that the lives of two young men with Cato roots had been cut short.

Vargason died at approximately 11:45 p.m. Thursday after the Toyota he was riding in, hit a telephone pole on North Division Street in Auburn. The vehicle's second occupant, Christopher L. Stinson, 22, of Cato, was injured.

Auburn Police officials have said slippery road conditions may have contributed to the incident, but the investigation is still underway as to who was driving and whether or not alcohol may have contributed to the crash.

Mapley was killed after a head-on collision on state Route 370 east of Cato. State police said the accident occurred at about 7:20 a.m. Saturday when his vehicle crossed over into the eastbound lane and crashed into a pickup truck heading the other way. Police said their preliminary investigation revealed only that failure to keep right was a factor in the crash.

Both men had spent much of their lives in Cato and had attended Cato-Meridian Central schools, where flags flew Monday at half-staff in recognition of the deaths. Superintendent Deborah Bobo said students were told Monday they can talk with guidance counselors if they need help dealing with the loss.

“I think when any school district or community suffers the tragedy that this one has gone through, it is a very difficult time,” Bobo said. “I think (lowering the flags) is an expression of our acknowledgment and our way of extending condolences and offering our thoughts to both families.”

Bobo said she remembers Mapley and Vargason from her time as principal at Cato-Meridian Elementary School, where they were both students.

“Both of them were very nice boys, and they had very good futures ahead of them,” Bobo said. “It is such a tragedy that both had to go at such a young age.”

Colleen Gunsalus said the people she has talked with in the community are having a hard time dealing with the news. Gunsalus, who was tending bar Monday at the Cato Hotel, said she is close with the Mapley family, and she also had known Vargason through her oldest daughter. Both were good, responsible boys, she said.

“I think we're all shell-shocked right now,” Gunsalus said. “Everybody knows everybody here. All of our kids went to school together.”

Gunsalus said that the hotel held a benefit in 2003 after Mapley's older brother, Cody, died in a snowmobile accident. Cody had been riding a snowmobile that slid into a drainage ditch alongside a road. Andrew, who was 13 at the time, was one of two boys riding behind Cody, and that snowmobile also went into the ditch, landing on top of Cody.

Gunsalus said she can't imagine what the families are going through, but she is struggling herself to understand why tragedies such as these could happen.

“I don't want to call it fate or karma,” she said. “I don't even think fate or karma would pull something like this off.”

At Cato Union Church, Pastor Ron Dusharm said he has noticed an “outpouring” of support from the congregation. Dusharm said the Mapley family are members at the church, as is an uncle of Vargason. And while the two incidents have compounded the grief, it has also compounded the compassion of people in the town, he said.

More young people than normal came to the Sunday night youth group meeting seeking answers and consolation, according to Dusharm. Sunday morning's service also revolved around both young men and included a time of prayer for both families, Dusharm said.

“It is such an overwhelming thing,” Dusharm said. “This is a very small community. It has obviously affected everyone.”

Staff writer Christopher Caskey can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or christopher.caskey@lee.com.

Calling hours

Calling hours for Vargason will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 30. Calling hours for Mapley will be held from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. Friday, Feb. 1. Both take place at Jewell Funeral Homes Inc., 13164 South St. (Route 34), Cato.