For almost an hour Saturday afternoon, about 20 young men and women stood mostly silent along a winding, tree-lined road.
They quietly sobbed and hugged each other. During their vigil, they mounted a makeshift memorial of a white cross bearing the names of their friends, "Jordan," "Carly" and "Mike" -- Jordan Daniel Cobb, 19; Carly Marie Kudray, 18; and Michael Richard Simpson, 19 -- all of Salem and all lost that morning in a single-car crash on Church Street.
"We knew instinctively to meet up and bought planks of wood and did the best we could," Michael Fmura, 19, of Salem, said about the cross. "We just wanted to show them how much we love them. Even if some of these people don't tap into their emotions, well, today they did."
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State police are investigating the wreck about 3 miles north of the intersection of Routes 22 and 819, which they estimate happened between 12:18 and 5:22 a.m. A passerby on his way to work had reported seeing a 1998 Buick Skylark down an embankment near a bend and around a tree.
Westmoreland County Deputy Coroner Tim O'Donnell pronounced Simpson, Cobb and Kudray dead at the scene. A third passenger, Chad Michael Vandergraft, 18, of Greensburg was listed in fair condition at UPMC Presbyterian.
Police have records indicating phones we
re used by the crash victims as late as 1 a.m. Saturday, O'Donnell said.
Only Simpson, who was driving, wore a seat belt, police said. The teenagers had been at a party on the previous night, according to friends.
Simpson and Cobb were 2009 graduates of Greensburg Salem High School who had just finished their first year of college. Kudray graduated from Greensburg Salem this month and had planned to attend Penn State.
Greensburg Salem Principal David Zilli said the teens' deaths seems doubly tragic because Thursday was the one-year anniversary of the death of Rachel Parker, a 2009 Greensburg Salem graduate killed in a car crash on Route 119, 2 miles north of Crabtree.
Automobile accidents are the leading cause of death for the nation's teens, according oil painting to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than one-third of teen deaths are cartier sunglasses caused by traffic accidents, the CDC reports.
From 2006 through 2008, the most recent year for which data were available, auto fatalities for people ages 16-20 numbered 611 in Pennsylvania and 15,527 nationally, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The period from Memorial Day to Labor Day is the deadliest for that age group, the safety administration reports.
Simpson was studying filmmaking and history at Penn State after receiving a University Trustee scholarship.
For his senior project in high school, he produced a documentary on Fort Ligonier Days. As a little boy, he used a pretend microphone to interview family members, said his mother, Joanie.
"He talked about going to New York City," she said. "He was a great kid."cartier sunglasses
Simpson had just taken a job at The Supper Club, the new restaurant at the historic train station in downtown Greensburg.
"He thought it was a great place to work," his mother said. "He loved his bosses."
Friends described Cobb as a class clown. He was studying business at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
Coy Maloy of Slickville said his son, also named Coy, was a close friend of Cobb's.
"Jordan used to stay at our house all the time," Maloy said. "He wasn't a good kid; he was a great kid."
Many mourners yesterday had worked with Kudray at King's Family Restaurant, off Route 66 near Delmont. Within the past few months, she had moved on to a job at Rick's Sports Bar & Pub, near Murrysville.
Alexis DeSabatine said Kudray was her best friend, describing them as "like sisters, almost." They became close after Kudray dated DeSabatine's brother Vince.
Kudray was a majorette in high school who was interested in studying education, DeSabatine said.cartier sunglasses
"Her smile and laugh will never be replaced," she said.
The high school will open at 9 a.m. Monday for students who want to meet with grief counselors, Zilli said.
Dawn Law contributed to this report.
