Story highlights Josh and Vanessa Ellis, a couple in their 20s, were youth pastors in a suburban Seattle church

They and their 8-month-old son, Hudson, are killed when a highway barrier falls on their car

"We are stunned! Shocked!" the church's lead pastor writes on Facebook

(CNN) A couple in their 20s, who led a youth ministry, and their baby boy were driving underneath a highway overpass in Bonney Lake, a Seattle suburb, when other motorists heard the crackle of a pending collapse.

Concrete from a construction project crashed onto the family's car, killing Josh and Vanessa Ellis and their 8-month-old son, Hudson, authorities said.

"The damage was so severe it was impossible to tell how many victims were in the vehicle. The only thing we had was we could tell there was one victim," said Officer Todd Green of Bonney Lake Police Department, according to CNN affiliate KOMO.

It took nine hours Monday for crews to remove enough debris to discover the death toll on Angeline Road underneath State Route 410, authorities said.

Josh and Vanessa Ellis were killed, along with their 8-month-old son, Hudson. The couple were youth pastors at their church.

Authorities continued their investigation Tuesday, but initial findings were that there was an ongoing construction project on the highway and a side jersey barrier "came loose and fell onto the roadway," Green told the station.

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