KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Three teenagers were killed in a crash when a vehicle they were in went airborne and struck a tree, Missouri police say.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol said five people were in the Ford Focus that crashed around 3:40 a.m. on Sunday in Lincoln County.
According to troopers, a 17-year-old girl was driving the Focus “too fast for conditions” when the vehicle “became airborne, landed, began to skid, and traveled off the roadway striking a tree and overturning.’”
Three of the occupants — a 15-year-old boy, a 17-year-old girl and an 18-year-old male — were pronounced dead at the scene. The driver and a 20-year-old male passenger were taken to a St. Louis hospital with serious injuries, the highway patrol said.
Police and loved ones, some in Facebook posts, identified the fatal victims as Kaeden Tyler, Emily McNees and William Flickinger.
Tyler, the youngest of the victims, was said to have a “heart of gold,” family members told KMOV.
“All I got to say to people, tell your kids you love them. Hug them,” Douglas Meyer, the teen’s stepfather, told the station. “You don’t know how many minutes are left.”
McNees had “such a sweet and beautiful soul,” a loved one said on Facebook.
“You brought joy to so many people’s lives,” Monica Donley said.
According to a GoFundMe, Flickinger was “loved by many and was always there when people needed help.”
The teenagers killed in the crash are students in the Lincoln County R-III School District, according to a statement sent to KSDK and KTVI. The district said it was “heartbroken” by the deaths.
“Tomorrow and throughout this week, district crisis counselors will be on-site at Troy Buchanan High School, New Horizons High School, and the Ninth Grade Center to work with students and staff,” the district said in the statement. “Additionally, school counselors are on-site at all of our school locations for any individual that would like to reach out.”
Lincoln County is about 60 miles northwest of St. Louis.
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