Accident leaves community mourning and looking for answers
BY JENNIE KEY | JKEY@COMMUNITYPRESS.COM


As friends and family struggle to make sense of the death of two Northwest High School students in a one-car crash last week, police continue to investigate the accident.

Five Northwest students left school in Chad Meztcar's black Cavalier at dismissal May 29.

Police say speed may have caused 16-year-old Metzcar, who had his license for only 115 days, to lose control on Buell Road, a hilly, curvy two-lane road that snakes through a rural area of northern Colerain Township.


Chad and passenger Dustin Linderman, 16, were in the front seat and were wearing seat belts. The back seat passengers, Lauren Dietz, 14, Miranda Phelps, 15, and Dustin Linderman, 14, were not.

Mike Post, a sophomore at Northwest, was in a car some distance behind the girls on Buell Road the day of the crash.

"We heard the crash, but we were too far behind to see anything," he said.

According to police, the black Cavalier in which the teens were riding crossed the centerline and veered off the road and into the woods, striking several trees along the way.

Firefighters had to use chainsaws to cut through the trees before reaching the mangled car. The girls were killed instantly, family members said. The boys were all taken to area hospitals. They remained in fair condition at Children's Hospital on Saturday.

May 29 was graduation day at Northwest, and the tragedy was marked by a moment of silence at commencement exercises and many tears as the community mourned the death of the two students.

On Wednesday, the Northwest district brought in counselors and many students used their services. Students covered posters on the walls and windows of the cafeteria and hallways with messages about their classmates and their sorrow. Some students left school to visit the scene of the crash.

The growing shrine has a collection of photos, stuffed animals, messages, soccer balls and flowers, left by those who visit. Classmates and friend with mementos and flowers cried and hugged one another at the side of the road where their friends perished.

There were two prayer services for the girls Wednesday evening.

At the prayer service at Corpus Christi Church Wednesday, a student said he had been told everything happens for a reason.

"I think many of us are searching for what that reason is," he said.

An hour later, at a second service at Dayspring Church of God, Pastor Tim Kufeldt asked those who attended to keep the families in their prayers.

"We cannot find comfort in the solutions of the world and we can't find the answers there," he said, There's no answer that can be satisfying."

Kufeldt added that the freedom to make choices, even when they are not wise choices, can allow something like this to happen. He reminded people that God can bring good from painful situations.

And he asked that everyone keep the families of the girls in their prayers.

On Saturday, hundreds attended visitation and funeral services for the girls, Miranda's first, then Lauren's.

Miranda is survived by her parents, Skip and Debbie Phelps, and a younger sister.

Lauren is survived by her mother, Angie Dietz; father, David Dietz; stepfather Chris Armstrong; a younger brother, and two stepsisters.