Indiana school mourns truck crash deaths of 2 sisters
MUNCIE, Ind. (AP) - Students at a central Indiana high school have returned from winter break in mourning after two sisters and the football star boyfriend of one of the girls were killed in a truck crash.
Annie Clark, 18, and her 16-year-old sister, Caroline, died Friday in western Indiana's Vermillion County when the pickup truck they were riding in crashed at high-speed into a building in Cayuga, about 35 miles north of Terre Haute. Police said none of them were wearing seatbelts.
Counselors and clergy were on hand Monday to help students cope with their grief as they returned to class at Muncie's Cowan Junior-Senior High School.
Cowan principal Patrick Bloom said students organized a "pink and purple" day to honor their late classmates. He called the Clark sisters "outstanding young people" who had touched many lives.
"They're going to be missed. ... It's obviously a very somber environment," he told The Star Press (http://tspne.ws/1xx17Jt ).
Annie Clark was a member of the school's 2015 senior class. Caroline was a sophomore.
Cowan Community Schools superintendent Dennis Chambers said classes would continue on a regular schedule because "a little normalcy is a good thing."
The tragedy was also felt at Muncie's Southside Middle School, where John Clark, the sisters' father, is a music teacher and band director.
Friday's crash also killed 18-year-old Braeden Hollowell, a Cayuga resident who was a captain of North Vermillion High School's undefeated Class A state champion football team.
The truck's 18-year-old driver, Ethan Lee of Cayuga, survived the crash and was released Sunday from an Indianapolis hospital. Lee is also a member of North Vermillion's football team and coach Brian Crabtree told the Tribune-Star the Clark sisters were the girlfriends of Hollowell and Lee.
Hollowell helped seal its 27-26 state championship win in November over Pioneer with a key fumble recovery late in the game. Lee helped produce the game-winning touchdown, catching a pass and lateralling to a teammate for the score.
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Information from: The Star Press, http://www.thestarpress.com