Dan Behar, Agoura High Student, Dies in Second Reported Suicide at Malibu Creek; Community in 'State of Shock'

By Simone Wilson Tue., Nov. 1 2011 at 9:15 AM

Categories: Crash, Death, Fires

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Dan Behar was only 17.

Yesterday around noon, Dan Alexander Behar, 17, became the third young Agoura Hills man to die by his own accord in less than a week. Last Wednesday, former Agoura High student Josh Feinberg committed suicide off the Rindge Dam at Malibu Creek, reportedly upset about his grades in college. (Behar was a senior at the same school.) And on Sunday, Thousand Oaks High quarterback Griffen Kramer was found dead at a friend's house in Agoura Hills; his cause of death is believed to be alcohol poisoning.

Resident Pam Williams speaks for many in her comment on the Agoura Hills Patch report of Behar's death: "We have lost three young lives within a six day period. Needless to say our small community is in a state of shock."

Fehar died in a car crash at Malibu Creek State Park, near Piuma Road and Woodbluff Road. The single-car collision sparked a small brush fire that was quickly put out by the L.A. County Fire Department.

City News Service reports that "authorities say the crash is being investigated this morning
as a suicide." And a parent from Agoura High has confirmed that belief to Patch:

Later in the day, high school principal Larry Misel sent out an automated phone call to families of students who attend the school. One parent who received the call said Misel's message reported that Behar had taken his own life.

Behar's friends have started a Facebook memorial page for him called "In Memory of Dan Behar." It already has 58 members and 30 photos, including prom pictures and snapshots from hikes around northern L.A. County. (On the victim's own profile, he says he hails from Germany.)

Another local, Valerie Fox, comments on Patch: "I am so concerned about many of our teenagers and the situations that make them feel they must resort to taking their young lives. What, as a community, can we do to better support them so that more of these situations are prevented?"

[@simone_electra/swilson@laweekly.com]

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