The tragedy was all the more painful for the family of Ms Eugenie McGee (24), of Lough Eske in Co Donegal, as it comes just 18 months after her father was killed in a road accident.
Father Declan McCarron, chaplain at the Abbey Vocational School in Donegal town where Ms McGee was a pupil, said the family were devastated.
"It's such a double blow for them. When I was talking to her mother Betty she said the father used to say that lightning never strikes twice but that in their case it has now. I think that sums it up. They are devastated and the fact that it all happened so far away makes it even harder."
The family are still not sure when the body will be returned from Bolivia but Father McCarron said they hoped it would be no later than Sunday or Monday. They now know the accident happened some five days before they were informed of it late on Monday night.
Father McCarron said it was particularly distressing for the family because it had been so hard to get details of what happened and because the crash victims had been robbed of their valuables.
Before going travelling in February, Ms McGee had completed an arts degree in the University of Limerick and later a computer course in Dublin and had been due back in Ireland in May to look for work.
She was the eldest of four children. Her father Eugene, a dentist in Donegal town, was killed when he was struck by a car when crossing the road at Barnesmore Gap, a few miles from the family home.
Her brother Niall travelled home yesterday from Canada where he is working. Her brother Owen lives at home and her sister Elizabeth is a student in Derry.
Father McCarron said she was remembered at the Abbey Vocational School as a bubbly and intelligent young girl. "The teachers have nothing but praise for her. One of them said you could meet her anywhere and she would always stop to speak to you."
Ms McGee had gone to Bolivia with her friend Ms Niamh O'Loughlin from Ballyhaunis, Co Mayo, whose sister, Ann Marie, was working as a courier there.