Manteca, CA : 2 young men, Beyer and Modesto high grads, killed in Manteca crash on Saturday afternoon, November 26, 2016

Two young men from Modesto were killed in a crash Saturday afternoon in Manteca, the city's Police Department confirmed Monday.

The victims were Peter Funtila, 24, and Christian Sangco, 23, said Manteca police Sgt. Mike Aguilar.

The crash occurred at 12:07 p.m. on Moffat Boulevard near East Woodward Avenue. Funtila was driving a white Subaru southeast on Moffat at an undetermined speed, Aguilar said. Sangco was his only passenger. A tow-truck driver heading the other way told police the car started going sideways and entered his lane. He was unable to avoid the collision, Aguilar said.

Officers with the Police Department's Major Accident Investigation Team are working to determine the cause of the crash. It occurred on a straightaway, and the road surface was not wet, Aguilar said.

"The big question is the why," he said. "We're not sure it if was something to do with the driver or something mechanical with the car or something we're unaware of on the roadway."

Funtila was pronounced dead at the scene, Aguilar said, and Sangco died later at Doctors Medical Center in Modesto. The tow-truck driver sought his own medical treatment, he said.

The men -- longtime friends since their grade-school days at Our Lady of Fatima -- were enjoying the Thanksgiving holiday weekend and had just gone to a movie in Manteca with other friends, said Funtila's father, Mel Funtila, a retired civil engineer with the city of Modesto. Three cars were driving back to Modesto in a caravan, he said, and had gotten onto Moffat to avoid heavy traffic on the Highway 120 bypass. His son's was the final car in the caravan.

"It was a shock, a devastating loss to me," Mel Funtila said about learning of the death of his son and Sangco.

Sangco went to Modesto High School, where his activities included being on the Science Olympiad team. According to his Facebook page, he studied microbiology at San Francisco State University and worked as a medical laboratory assistant at Ascend Clinical LLC in Redwood City.

Funtila went to Beyer High. His mother, Barbara Kennedy, is a Modesto physician. Her son also was working in the medical field; he'd finished a medical assistant program at San Joaquin Valley College, his father said, and planned to take his board exam. He also was interested in becoming a nurse.

A former classmate, Matt Gonzalez, remembered Peter Funtila as a very talented trumpet player. "He was in Beyer marching band with me. Band was his life -- he took it very seriously," Gonzalez said. "He also did Blue Devils, which is one of the best drum corps in the world."

Mel Funtila said his son enjoyed automotive work and was proud of his 2015 Subaru, which he'd had for about a year and a half.

"Just like any kids his age, he liked modifying things to make it look more sporty," Funtila said, "but nothing like a race car."

He said he doesn't believe anything his son did to the car would have contributed to the crash.

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OPINION: 2 young men, Beyer and Modesto high grads, killed in Manteca crash