Linda family mourns loss of 2nd child

Tragedy struck a Linda family for the second time in less than a year when 25-year-old Michael McCullah drowned Thursday in Lake Francis in the Yuba County foothills.

McCullah's younger sister, Sara McCullah, was one of three young women who died of carbon monoxide poisoning in December as they sat in a snow-covered car at Squaw Valley Resort.

On his MySpace.com Web site, Michael had written, "Till I see you again, Sara ... save the spot right next to you for me," said his older sister, Kristie McCullah.

"I don't think that could have been more true," McCullah said Monday as she and her mother, Cindy Walczak, found themselves making funeral arrangements for the second time in less than seven months.

Michael was working as a ski lift operator at Squaw Valley when Sara was hired there and felt guilty — needlessly — for her presence there, Walczak said.

Sara's friends, Lacy Sutton and Olivia Kloncz, also died.

At about 11 p.m. Thursday, a Yuba County Sheriff's Department deputy knocked at the door of the family's Pasado Road home. The friends Michael had gone to Lake Francis with had reported him missing, and he was not with the van they had all used to get there.

The deputy was hoping that Michael had found another way to get home, Kristie said.

Shortly after 8 a.m. Friday, a Sheriff's Department dive team found his body about 10 feet from shore.

On Thursday evening, Michael had been trying to get one of his companions into the water by pretending to drown, she said.

"They thought he was kidding around, then noticed he never made it out of the water. They waited around for him, thinking he was playing a joke," Kristie said.

"It's the whole 'cry wolf' story," she said.

A sting from one of the many bees in the area may have contributed to the drowning. Although Michael was a strong swimmer, he had previously suffered severe reactions to stings, including trouble breathing, said Kristie.

Kristie, who has a degree in TV broadcasting, said it had always been her dream to make a documentary about her brother's short but adventurous life. Like a folk singer in the 1930s, Michael liked to set off with his harmonica and guitar and hop trains to locations as distant as Philadelphia and Florida, playing for money on sidewalks when necessary. He and his friends could tell where train cars were headed by the numbers on their sides, she said.

Not materialistic, Michael judged his life by the experiences he had, not by how much money made, Kristie said.

Michael also played piano and keyboards and hoped to teach music someday. He completed two semesters at Yuba College, said Walczak.

He belonged to a band called the TFJs who played at local venues from bars to back yards, she said.

Walczak, a licensed practical nurse, said she was just getting over her daughter's death and was about to go back to work when news of Michael's death arrived.

Keeping busy Monday with funeral arrangements and plans for memorial was one way to keep going, Walczak said.

"I'm just trying to stay focused," she said.

Besides Walczak and Kristie McCullah, Michael is survived by twin sisters Michelle and Danielle, a 13-year-old sister, Jessica, and cousin Cody Mann, all of whom live at the Pasado Road home.

A memorial gathering is planned at 5 p.m. Thursday at Sam Brannan Park in Yuba City, where Michael liked to skateboard. A memorial concert is tentatively planned for late summer, said Walczak.