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http://www.omniture.com --> Email Story to a Friend June 21, 2006 Click image for larger view Clay Harrington, left, and Jim Schmidt, classmates of the victims, kneel before the memorial of wooden crosses by the side of Highway 238. (Mail Tribune / Jim Craven) View or add to online recollections of the victims: Kyle Ross David Bergin Marshall Thibeault Tragedy stuns community By ANITA BURKE and SARAH LEMON Mail Tribune RUCH — Matt Mee and Bryce Flory anticipated a night of swimming and camping with three friends when the screech of tires shattered their plans. The two teens instead witnessed the death of Kyle Charles Ross, David John Bergin and Jonathan Marshall Thibeault, all recent graduates of South Medford High School. "We looked down the river, and we could see lights in the water," Flory, 18, sobbed Tuesday morning as he recalled the car crash that killed his friends. Ross, Bergin and Thibeault, all 18, were supposed to meet Flory, who also had just graduated, and Mee, a junior, at a campsite on private property near Cantrall-Buckley Park. But the black 1994 BMW 740 four-door sedan carrying the three sped past the spot and careened off Highway 238 and into the waist-high Applegate River. "I think they were just going too fast," Flory said. "He (Ross) was going like 80 miles per hour or something; that's what the cops said they thought." A preliminary investigation shows that at about 12:15 a.m. Tuesday, Ross' BMW was speeding westbound on Highway 238 near milepost 27, about six miles east of the town of Applegate, Oregon State Police said. As the car rounded a sweeping right-hand curve just past the access road to Cantrall-Buckley Park, Ross lost control, police said. The car left the north side of the highway and plunged down a bank, striking a tree as it tumbled toward the Applegate River. It came to rest upside down, with the front half of the vehicle in the river, police said. Flory and Mee called 9-1-1 and rushed through the river to the car. They forced Ross' door open and saw that he was trapped upside down in the watery car. Flory said he felt for his friend's pulse but detected no heartbeat. Ross wasn't breathing. Unable to open the other car door, the two said they waited for about five minutes for crews with Jackson County Fire District No. 9 to arrive. Volunteer firefighters included members of Ross' family. "The guy who showed up knew Kyle," Flory said. Emergency crews used heavy hydraulic extraction tools to get into the car, the fire department reported. All three teens were declared dead at the scene, OSP Lt. Kurt Barthel said. Autopsies will be done, but the impact of the crash likely killed the young men instantly, he said. A member of District No. 9's fundraising organization, Ross' grandmother, Sue Ross, said she heard the 12:15 a.m. crash response broadcast over the police scanner in her Ruch home. Assuming all her family members were home and in bed, Ross went back to sleep. The next morning at work, she realized the crash involved her loved ones. "He wasn't a partier," she said of her grandson. "He was a good driver. He was a careful driver. He did something crazy, I guess." Barthel said the three had been camping and swimming with friends at Cantrall-Buckley Park before the accident, then headed to Ruch. They were returning to camp when the crash happened, he said. Barthel said investigators are working on a crash reconstruction that will help determine how fast Ross was driving. Although television reports have indicated alcohol may have been a factor in the crash, police would only say they are investigating all factors that might have contributed to the deadly accident. OSP investigators are also asking people who saw young people at the park late Monday and into Tuesday to describe the behavior of the gathered teens. Investigators suspect some teens left the park before officers arrived, and they want to talk to all witnesses, Barthel said. Anyone with information is asked to contact state police at 776-6114. Advertisement s Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker Custom Build Computers Discount Hotel Reservations --> online casinos news Ashley Furniture HomeStore Send Flowers California Casinos GMAT Prep Windermere Van Vleet Sports Equipment Entertainment Guide --> Online Casino Fundraisers Sudoku Online Casinos Canada Online Casino Reviews