Highway 104 crash that killed teacher and 2 students could take months to investigate

A 26-year-old teacher who died in a crash Tuesday afternoon on Highway 104 in Cape Breton is being remembered as a vibrant woman with "a lot of spunk" who loved her students and was loved in return.

Kayla Cotton, from Louisdale, died at the scene in Port Malcolm, a small community near Port Hawkesbury. She was with two students — a 12-year-old girl from Louisdale and a 13-year-old girl from Mexico — who were also killed.

Cotton was a teacher at the Felix Marchand Education Centre and also coached volleyball at the Richmond Education Centre — both in Louisdale — where the two girls were students.

Gertrude Samson, who knew all the victims of the crash, said Cotton brought a lot of energy to the community.

"The kids loved her in the community, she was involved in volleyball. She loved to coach, she loved the kids," she told CBC News on Wednesday.

"The community is in total shock, to lose three such young people."

Investigation could take months

The RCMP said Wednesday it could be months before police fully understand what happened in the crash, when the car carrying the victims and an on-coming van made contact. Const. Mark Skinner said the car, which had been heading westbound, began to spin and was hit by another vehicle heading eastbound.

Skinner said there's no way to say how long the crash analysis will take. 

"It's difficult to give a timeline with these cases, unfortunately. It's just going to take as long as it takes," he said.

"This one appears to be a complex scenario which occurred. It could take a number of months, if not longer, to fully analyze all the data that's involved here and come up with a conclusion."

Skinner said an accident reconstructionist was at the crash scene until the highway reopened at midnight. He said the vehicles have been stored for mechanical inspection and witnesses have been interviewed.

The superintendent of the Strait Regional School Board said Cotton and the students were heading to Port Hawkesbury for a school-sponsored event when the crash happened.

'This is a very tight-knit community'

Flags at Felix Marchand Education Centre and the Richmond Education Centre were at half-mast on Wednesday.

Ford Rice, the superintendent of the school board, said during home room on Wednesday morning, students were invited to ask questions and share their thoughts and feelings on the crash.

"Of course there's a great sense of loss and sadness at both schools and as a result we have our crisis management teams in place," he said. 

Rice said school administration, guidance staff and school psychologists will provide support and grief counselling.

"This is a very tight-knit community, a very small community and we'll certainly be monitoring the situation at the schools and the administration will be doing that in terms of adjusting schedules as needed today," he said.