Highway dedication ceremony in Merced honors slain CHP officers

Two California Highway Patrol officers killed a gunfight almost five decades ago were honored this week in Merced County.

During the ceremony, family members of slain CHP Officers Walter Frago and Roger Gore, unveiled the CHP Officers Walter Frago and Roger Gore Memorial Freeway sign, dedicating in their memories the stretch of highway that runs from Mission Avenue to Campus Parkway in Merced County.

Frago and Gore, who were both raised in Merced County, were shot and killed along with officers James Pence and George Alleyn during a gun battle that erupted during a traffic stop in Newhall on April 6, 1970. The shootout lasted less than five minutes, according to the CHP.

CHP Capt. Becky Hagen hopes motorists passing the sign will see the sacrifices of the men who swore to protect them and laid down their lives upholding that oath.

Frago’s widow Nikki Frago, said she was amazed as the memorial sign was unveiled.

“Even after all these years, we’re still family and they still remember and I’m blessed,” she said.

Frago said the night before her husband’s death, the couple celebrated their fifth wedding anniversary by driving to the coast and walking on the beach as Gore and his wife looked after their children.

She said the hardest part of losing her husband and best friend was that her daughters grew up without their father.

“To this day, that hurts my heart,” she said.

Gore’s daughter, Elyce Janeen Taylor, was 18-months-old when her father was killed. She said it was overwhelming to see the sign honoring her father unveiled during the ceremony.

“I could hear the whole audience just kind of gasp, it was so beautiful,” she said. “I believe it took everybody’s breath away.”