Megan was a resident of Shamong, Burlington, New Jersey, USA prior to her death. She was killed along with Amanda Marie Geiger, Angela Nicole McGrady and Shana Marisa Lawler during a trip to North Carolina.
•Courier-Post, 8 Apr 1999:
Megan Ann[e] Blong, 17, of Indian Mills, died Tuesday in Kill Devil Hills, N.C. Born in Atlanta, Miss Blong lived in Shamong most of her life. A junior at Shawnee High School, she was a member of the school's executive and yearbook committees. She was active with Shawnee Spirit Week, was a communicant of Church of the Holy Eucharist, Tabernacle, and recently began to learn kickboxing. She. is survived by her parents, James T and Margaret A (nee Goff); a brother, James T, and three sisters, Kathleen, Maureen and Elizabeth, all at home; her paternal grandparents, James T and Helen (nee Gilfeddar) of Darby, Pa.; and several aunts, uncles and cousins. Friends may call Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon at the Mathis Funeral Home, 58 N. Main St, Medford. Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at Church of the Holy Eucharist, Tabernacle. Interment will be in Odd Fellows Cemetery, Medford.
•The Philadelphia Inquirer, 8 Apr 1999:
3 N.J. GIRLS KILLED IN N.C. CRASH \ THE TEENS WERE ON SPRING BREAK. TWO FRIENDS WERE CRITICALLY HURT. THE OTHER MOTORIST FACES CHARGES.
Three teenage girlfriends from Burlington County on a spring-break trip to the Outer Banks were killed when their car was slammed broadside by a drunken driver who ran her sport-utility vehicle through a red light, authorities said yesterday.
Two other friends were badly injured in the crash Tuesday in the shadow of the obelisk commemorating the first flight by the Wright brothers in neighboring Kitty Hawk.
Police said the driver of the sport-utility vehicle, Melissa Lynn Marvin, 29, of Kill Devil Hills, had been twice convicted of reckless driving. She was charged Tuesday with driving while impaired, three counts of felony death by motor vehicle, reckless driving, speeding, and running a red light. She was in jail after failing to post $31,000 bail and faces a court hearing tomorrow.
Killed were Angela McGrady and Amanda Geiger, both of Medford, and Megan Blong of Shamong. All were 17. McGrady and Blong were juniors at Shawnee High School. Geiger had attended Lenape High School but left this year as a junior.
Injured were Michael Horner, 17, a junior at Shawnee from Shamong, and Shana Lawler, 17, who had lived in Medford and moved to Colington on the Outer Banks in the past year. Both were flown to hospitals on the mainland. Horner underwent surgery to remove his spleen and was in the intensive-care unit with a collapsed lung and possible broken rib at Albemarle Hospital in Elizabeth City, N.C. Lawler was reported in critical condition yesterday at Sentara Hospital in Norfolk, Va. [Lawler died on 12 Apr 1999.]
The bodies of Blong, Geiger and McGrady were flown home yesterday.
The four Burlington County teens had taken a bus over the weekend to spend their spring break with Lawler and her parents on the Outer Banks, a favorite destination this time of year.
Police said the five were in a 1988 Chevrolet Cavalier owned by Lawler's parents, Paul and Brenda, when the crash occurred just before 3 p.m. Tuesday.
With Blong behind the wheel, the teens apparently were headed back to the Lawler house.
While crossing U.S. Route 158, the main north-south thoroughfare on the island, they were hit by the 1989 Mitsubishi Montero driven by Marvin.
Police said Marvin was heading north at 60 m.p.h. in a 50 m.p.h. zone and ran a red light. The sport-utility vehicle slammed into the driver's side of the westbound car.
Police Chief Ray Davis said there were no skid marks, indicating Marvin did not attempt to brake.
McGrady and Geiger, who were in the back seat, were dead at the scene. The driver, Blong, who was wearing a seat belt, died a short time later at the Outer Banks Medical Center. Horner was sitting in the passenger seat and Lawler was in the back seat.
Julia Phillips, a cashier at the Amoco station's convenience store, did not witness the crash but saw the aftermath.
The Cavalier, she said, had been hit with such force that it bent in the middle and looked like it almost cracked in half. It spun around and was facing east when it came to a halt.
Rescue crews had to cut the victims from the twisted metal, and the intersection was closed for about three hours, she said.
"If anybody made it out alive, it was God's works," she said.
She said she saw police handcuff Marvin and lead her shaking and in tears to a patrol car.
"I just feel for the families," Phillips said, adding the scene "just ripped my heart out. I stood out there on the curb and cried."
News of the tragedy sent shock waves through Medford and Shamong, from the Shop-Rite on Route 70 where McGrady worked part-time to the house in a cul-de-sac in the Lake Pine section of Medford where Geiger lived.
Horner's parents traveled to Elizabeth City to be near their son. Horner and McGrady had planned to attend the Shawnee junior prom together.
Mark Medvetz, a Shawnee junior, choked back tears yesterday as he described the sweet friendship he had with Blong, who was to be his prom date.
"She touched your heart," he said. "She would open your eyes and let you know you were special.
"When I asked her, she was thrilled," Medvetz said proudly. "She gave me a big hug."
Blong, who had a limp from cerebral palsy she suffered as a baby, had run cross-country track in her sophomore year, usually coming in last but to the cheers of her teammates.
"She was really encouraging. She was always smiling," said Stephanie Kircher, 16, who ran with Blong and learned of her death yesterday at cross-country practice.
Geiger's father, Michael Sr., flew to Michigan to tell his other daughter Kelly, a student at Michigan State, of her sister's death. Geiger's mother, Marilyn, was in the hospital after undergoing hip surgery.
At the McGrady home on a busy road in Medford, about 15 cars were parked on the front lawn while friends and family gathered in the one-story brick ranch home to comfort the girl's family. An Easter bunny flag fluttered from a tree.
"She was very special," said her father, Michael, his voice cracking. "All of her friends and family loved her dearly."
Patricia Milich, spokeswoman for the Lenape Regional High School District, said guidance counselors would be on hand at Lenape and Shawnee High Schools to help students with their grief when they return for classes on Monday.
"We are deeply saddened by the news," Milich said. "The district will make every effort to provide whatever grief counseling services are necessary to help the students."
It is a task that the district has confronted before. Three students from the district's Cherokee High School have been killed in separate accidents involving automobiles in the past year and a half.
•Courier-Post, 26 Apr 2009:
The families devastated when a drunken driver took the lives of four Lenape Regional High School District students and injured a fifth 10 years ago refuse to call the car crash an accident. "When something affects you to the level it has affected us, 'accident' is too common a term. Accidents are not preventable. This crash was easily preventable," said Erin Lawler, Seneca High School's substance abuse counselor. Lawler, 31, of Marlton, is the sister of Shana Lawler, one of the four 17-year old girls who perished in Kill Devil Hills, NC, during the spring break of their junior year in high school. Lenape High School student Amanda Geiger of Medford, along with Shawnee High School students Angela McGrady of Medford and Shamong residents Megan Blong and Michael Horner, also 17, were visiting Shana Lawler, a former Shawnee student whose family recently had moved from Medford. Driving back from the beach on April 6, 1999, they were hit by Melissa Marvin, a 29-year-old waitress and surfer who ran a red light after downing five drinks. McGrady, Blong and Geiger died at the scene. Shana Lawler died April 12. Horner was the only one to survive. The story made national headlines and Court TV because Marvin had been arrested on prior DUIs, but always got off with downgraded charges and a slap on the wrist. This time, the judge was not so lenient. Convicted of four counts of second-degree murder and one of assault with a deadly weapon, Marvin is serving 60 years without parole. The decision may have brought justice to the families, but not closure. "People who use that word haven't been here. You have a love affair with your child. We consider this a homicide. Even after criminal justice is served, there is no closure," said Shamong resident Maggie Blong, Megan's mother. Shortly after the crash, friends hastily organized the first run/walk to honor the girls, who came to be known as the "Precious Gems." The families formed the nonprofit Precious Gems Memorial Inc., dedicated to preserving the girls' memories while it works within the community to spread awareness of the dangers of drunken driving, substance abuse and other reckless decisions.
•From the Precious Gems Memorial website*:
"A drunk driver crashed into a car carrying five seventeen-year old children. Four were killed, and the fifth suffered serious injuries. One decision forever altered the lives of six families, and countless others, forever."
*Their website was preciousgemsmemorial.com, but the website is no longer available. It is unclear if the nonprofit is still active (post 2018).
•The drunk driver, Melissa Marvin, was sentenced to sixty years in prison (fifteen years for each victim) on 15 Jan 2000.
•Courier-Post, 8 Apr 1999:
Megan Ann[e] Blong, 17, of Indian Mills, died Tuesday in Kill Devil Hills, N.C. Born in Atlanta, Miss Blong lived in Shamong most of her life. A junior at Shawnee High School, she was a member of the school's executive and yearbook committees. She was active with Shawnee Spirit Week, was a communicant of Church of the Holy Eucharist, Tabernacle, and recently began to learn kickboxing. She. is survived by her parents, James T and Margaret A (nee Goff); a brother, James T, and three sisters, Kathleen, Maureen and Elizabeth, all at home; her paternal grandparents, James T and Helen (nee Gilfeddar) of Darby, Pa.; and several aunts, uncles and cousins. Friends may call Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon at the Mathis Funeral Home, 58 N. Main St, Medford. Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at Church of the Holy Eucharist, Tabernacle. Interment will be in Odd Fellows Cemetery, Medford.
•The Philadelphia Inquirer, 8 Apr 1999:
3 N.J. GIRLS KILLED IN N.C. CRASH \ THE TEENS WERE ON SPRING BREAK. TWO FRIENDS WERE CRITICALLY HURT. THE OTHER MOTORIST FACES CHARGES.
Three teenage girlfriends from Burlington County on a spring-break trip to the Outer Banks were killed when their car was slammed broadside by a drunken driver who ran her sport-utility vehicle through a red light, authorities said yesterday.
Two other friends were badly injured in the crash Tuesday in the shadow of the obelisk commemorating the first flight by the Wright brothers in neighboring Kitty Hawk.
Police said the driver of the sport-utility vehicle, Melissa Lynn Marvin, 29, of Kill Devil Hills, had been twice convicted of reckless driving. She was charged Tuesday with driving while impaired, three counts of felony death by motor vehicle, reckless driving, speeding, and running a red light. She was in jail after failing to post $31,000 bail and faces a court hearing tomorrow.
Killed were Angela McGrady and Amanda Geiger, both of Medford, and Megan Blong of Shamong. All were 17. McGrady and Blong were juniors at Shawnee High School. Geiger had attended Lenape High School but left this year as a junior.
Injured were Michael Horner, 17, a junior at Shawnee from Shamong, and Shana Lawler, 17, who had lived in Medford and moved to Colington on the Outer Banks in the past year. Both were flown to hospitals on the mainland. Horner underwent surgery to remove his spleen and was in the intensive-care unit with a collapsed lung and possible broken rib at Albemarle Hospital in Elizabeth City, N.C. Lawler was reported in critical condition yesterday at Sentara Hospital in Norfolk, Va. [Lawler died on 12 Apr 1999.]
The bodies of Blong, Geiger and McGrady were flown home yesterday.
The four Burlington County teens had taken a bus over the weekend to spend their spring break with Lawler and her parents on the Outer Banks, a favorite destination this time of year.
Police said the five were in a 1988 Chevrolet Cavalier owned by Lawler's parents, Paul and Brenda, when the crash occurred just before 3 p.m. Tuesday.
With Blong behind the wheel, the teens apparently were headed back to the Lawler house.
While crossing U.S. Route 158, the main north-south thoroughfare on the island, they were hit by the 1989 Mitsubishi Montero driven by Marvin.
Police said Marvin was heading north at 60 m.p.h. in a 50 m.p.h. zone and ran a red light. The sport-utility vehicle slammed into the driver's side of the westbound car.
Police Chief Ray Davis said there were no skid marks, indicating Marvin did not attempt to brake.
McGrady and Geiger, who were in the back seat, were dead at the scene. The driver, Blong, who was wearing a seat belt, died a short time later at the Outer Banks Medical Center. Horner was sitting in the passenger seat and Lawler was in the back seat.
Julia Phillips, a cashier at the Amoco station's convenience store, did not witness the crash but saw the aftermath.
The Cavalier, she said, had been hit with such force that it bent in the middle and looked like it almost cracked in half. It spun around and was facing east when it came to a halt.
Rescue crews had to cut the victims from the twisted metal, and the intersection was closed for about three hours, she said.
"If anybody made it out alive, it was God's works," she said.
She said she saw police handcuff Marvin and lead her shaking and in tears to a patrol car.
"I just feel for the families," Phillips said, adding the scene "just ripped my heart out. I stood out there on the curb and cried."
News of the tragedy sent shock waves through Medford and Shamong, from the Shop-Rite on Route 70 where McGrady worked part-time to the house in a cul-de-sac in the Lake Pine section of Medford where Geiger lived.
Horner's parents traveled to Elizabeth City to be near their son. Horner and McGrady had planned to attend the Shawnee junior prom together.
Mark Medvetz, a Shawnee junior, choked back tears yesterday as he described the sweet friendship he had with Blong, who was to be his prom date.
"She touched your heart," he said. "She would open your eyes and let you know you were special.
"When I asked her, she was thrilled," Medvetz said proudly. "She gave me a big hug."
Blong, who had a limp from cerebral palsy she suffered as a baby, had run cross-country track in her sophomore year, usually coming in last but to the cheers of her teammates.
"She was really encouraging. She was always smiling," said Stephanie Kircher, 16, who ran with Blong and learned of her death yesterday at cross-country practice.
Geiger's father, Michael Sr., flew to Michigan to tell his other daughter Kelly, a student at Michigan State, of her sister's death. Geiger's mother, Marilyn, was in the hospital after undergoing hip surgery.
At the McGrady home on a busy road in Medford, about 15 cars were parked on the front lawn while friends and family gathered in the one-story brick ranch home to comfort the girl's family. An Easter bunny flag fluttered from a tree.
"She was very special," said her father, Michael, his voice cracking. "All of her friends and family loved her dearly."
Patricia Milich, spokeswoman for the Lenape Regional High School District, said guidance counselors would be on hand at Lenape and Shawnee High Schools to help students with their grief when they return for classes on Monday.
"We are deeply saddened by the news," Milich said. "The district will make every effort to provide whatever grief counseling services are necessary to help the students."
It is a task that the district has confronted before. Three students from the district's Cherokee High School have been killed in separate accidents involving automobiles in the past year and a half.
•Courier-Post, 26 Apr 2009:
The families devastated when a drunken driver took the lives of four Lenape Regional High School District students and injured a fifth 10 years ago refuse to call the car crash an accident. "When something affects you to the level it has affected us, 'accident' is too common a term. Accidents are not preventable. This crash was easily preventable," said Erin Lawler, Seneca High School's substance abuse counselor. Lawler, 31, of Marlton, is the sister of Shana Lawler, one of the four 17-year old girls who perished in Kill Devil Hills, NC, during the spring break of their junior year in high school. Lenape High School student Amanda Geiger of Medford, along with Shawnee High School students Angela McGrady of Medford and Shamong residents Megan Blong and Michael Horner, also 17, were visiting Shana Lawler, a former Shawnee student whose family recently had moved from Medford. Driving back from the beach on April 6, 1999, they were hit by Melissa Marvin, a 29-year-old waitress and surfer who ran a red light after downing five drinks. McGrady, Blong and Geiger died at the scene. Shana Lawler died April 12. Horner was the only one to survive. The story made national headlines and Court TV because Marvin had been arrested on prior DUIs, but always got off with downgraded charges and a slap on the wrist. This time, the judge was not so lenient. Convicted of four counts of second-degree murder and one of assault with a deadly weapon, Marvin is serving 60 years without parole. The decision may have brought justice to the families, but not closure. "People who use that word haven't been here. You have a love affair with your child. We consider this a homicide. Even after criminal justice is served, there is no closure," said Shamong resident Maggie Blong, Megan's mother. Shortly after the crash, friends hastily organized the first run/walk to honor the girls, who came to be known as the "Precious Gems." The families formed the nonprofit Precious Gems Memorial Inc., dedicated to preserving the girls' memories while it works within the community to spread awareness of the dangers of drunken driving, substance abuse and other reckless decisions.
•From the Precious Gems Memorial website*:
"A drunk driver crashed into a car carrying five seventeen-year old children. Four were killed, and the fifth suffered serious injuries. One decision forever altered the lives of six families, and countless others, forever."
*Their website was preciousgemsmemorial.com, but the website is no longer available. It is unclear if the nonprofit is still active (post 2018).
•The drunk driver, Melissa Marvin, was sentenced to sixty years in prison (fifteen years for each victim) on 15 Jan 2000.
Megan was a resident of Shamong, Burlington, New Jersey, USA prior to her death. She was killed along with Amanda Marie Geiger, Angela Nicole McGrady and Shana Marisa Lawler during a trip to North Carolina.
•Courier-Post, 8 Apr 1999:
Megan Ann[e] Blong, 17, of Indian Mills, died Tuesday in Kill Devil Hills, N.C. Born in Atlanta, Miss Blong lived in Shamong most of her life. A junior at Shawnee High School, she was a member of the school's executive and yearbook committees. She was active with Shawnee Spirit Week, was a communicant of Church of the Holy Eucharist, Tabernacle, and recently began to learn kickboxing. She. is survived by her parents, James T and Margaret A (nee Goff); a brother, James T, and three sisters, Kathleen, Maureen and Elizabeth, all at home; her paternal grandparents, James T and Helen (nee Gilfeddar) of Darby, Pa.; and several aunts, uncles and cousins. Friends may call Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon at the Mathis Funeral Home, 58 N. Main St, Medford. Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at Church of the Holy Eucharist, Tabernacle. Interment will be in Odd Fellows Cemetery, Medford.
•The Philadelphia Inquirer, 8 Apr 1999:
3 N.J. GIRLS KILLED IN N.C. CRASH \ THE TEENS WERE ON SPRING BREAK. TWO FRIENDS WERE CRITICALLY HURT. THE OTHER MOTORIST FACES CHARGES.
Three teenage girlfriends from Burlington County on a spring-break trip to the Outer Banks were killed when their car was slammed broadside by a drunken driver who ran her sport-utility vehicle through a red light, authorities said yesterday.
Two other friends were badly injured in the crash Tuesday in the shadow of the obelisk commemorating the first flight by the Wright brothers in neighboring Kitty Hawk.
Police said the driver of the sport-utility vehicle, Melissa Lynn Marvin, 29, of Kill Devil Hills, had been twice convicted of reckless driving. She was charged Tuesday with driving while impaired, three counts of felony death by motor vehicle, reckless driving, speeding, and running a red light. She was in jail after failing to post $31,000 bail and faces a court hearing tomorrow.
Killed were Angela McGrady and Amanda Geiger, both of Medford, and Megan Blong of Shamong. All were 17. McGrady and Blong were juniors at Shawnee High School. Geiger had attended Lenape High School but left this year as a junior.
Injured were Michael Horner, 17, a junior at Shawnee from Shamong, and Shana Lawler, 17, who had lived in Medford and moved to Colington on the Outer Banks in the past year. Both were flown to hospitals on the mainland. Horner underwent surgery to remove his spleen and was in the intensive-care unit with a collapsed lung and possible broken rib at Albemarle Hospital in Elizabeth City, N.C. Lawler was reported in critical condition yesterday at Sentara Hospital in Norfolk, Va. [Lawler died on 12 Apr 1999.]
The bodies of Blong, Geiger and McGrady were flown home yesterday.
The four Burlington County teens had taken a bus over the weekend to spend their spring break with Lawler and her parents on the Outer Banks, a favorite destination this time of year.
Police said the five were in a 1988 Chevrolet Cavalier owned by Lawler's parents, Paul and Brenda, when the crash occurred just before 3 p.m. Tuesday.
With Blong behind the wheel, the teens apparently were headed back to the Lawler house.
While crossing U.S. Route 158, the main north-south thoroughfare on the island, they were hit by the 1989 Mitsubishi Montero driven by Marvin.
Police said Marvin was heading north at 60 m.p.h. in a 50 m.p.h. zone and ran a red light. The sport-utility vehicle slammed into the driver's side of the westbound car.
Police Chief Ray Davis said there were no skid marks, indicating Marvin did not attempt to brake.
McGrady and Geiger, who were in the back seat, were dead at the scene. The driver, Blong, who was wearing a seat belt, died a short time later at the Outer Banks Medical Center. Horner was sitting in the passenger seat and Lawler was in the back seat.
Julia Phillips, a cashier at the Amoco station's convenience store, did not witness the crash but saw the aftermath.
The Cavalier, she said, had been hit with such force that it bent in the middle and looked like it almost cracked in half. It spun around and was facing east when it came to a halt.
Rescue crews had to cut the victims from the twisted metal, and the intersection was closed for about three hours, she said.
"If anybody made it out alive, it was God's works," she said.
She said she saw police handcuff Marvin and lead her shaking and in tears to a patrol car.
"I just feel for the families," Phillips said, adding the scene "just ripped my heart out. I stood out there on the curb and cried."
News of the tragedy sent shock waves through Medford and Shamong, from the Shop-Rite on Route 70 where McGrady worked part-time to the house in a cul-de-sac in the Lake Pine section of Medford where Geiger lived.
Horner's parents traveled to Elizabeth City to be near their son. Horner and McGrady had planned to attend the Shawnee junior prom together.
Mark Medvetz, a Shawnee junior, choked back tears yesterday as he described the sweet friendship he had with Blong, who was to be his prom date.
"She touched your heart," he said. "She would open your eyes and let you know you were special.
"When I asked her, she was thrilled," Medvetz said proudly. "She gave me a big hug."
Blong, who had a limp from cerebral palsy she suffered as a baby, had run cross-country track in her sophomore year, usually coming in last but to the cheers of her teammates.
"She was really encouraging. She was always smiling," said Stephanie Kircher, 16, who ran with Blong and learned of her death yesterday at cross-country practice.
Geiger's father, Michael Sr., flew to Michigan to tell his other daughter Kelly, a student at Michigan State, of her sister's death. Geiger's mother, Marilyn, was in the hospital after undergoing hip surgery.
At the McGrady home on a busy road in Medford, about 15 cars were parked on the front lawn while friends and family gathered in the one-story brick ranch home to comfort the girl's family. An Easter bunny flag fluttered from a tree.
"She was very special," said her father, Michael, his voice cracking. "All of her friends and family loved her dearly."
Patricia Milich, spokeswoman for the Lenape Regional High School District, said guidance counselors would be on hand at Lenape and Shawnee High Schools to help students with their grief when they return for classes on Monday.
"We are deeply saddened by the news," Milich said. "The district will make every effort to provide whatever grief counseling services are necessary to help the students."
It is a task that the district has confronted before. Three students from the district's Cherokee High School have been killed in separate accidents involving automobiles in the past year and a half.
•Courier-Post, 26 Apr 2009:
The families devastated when a drunken driver took the lives of four Lenape Regional High School District students and injured a fifth 10 years ago refuse to call the car crash an accident. "When something affects you to the level it has affected us, 'accident' is too common a term. Accidents are not preventable. This crash was easily preventable," said Erin Lawler, Seneca High School's substance abuse counselor. Lawler, 31, of Marlton, is the sister of Shana Lawler, one of the four 17-year old girls who perished in Kill Devil Hills, NC, during the spring break of their junior year in high school. Lenape High School student Amanda Geiger of Medford, along with Shawnee High School students Angela McGrady of Medford and Shamong residents Megan Blong and Michael Horner, also 17, were visiting Shana Lawler, a former Shawnee student whose family recently had moved from Medford. Driving back from the beach on April 6, 1999, they were hit by Melissa Marvin, a 29-year-old waitress and surfer who ran a red light after downing five drinks. McGrady, Blong and Geiger died at the scene. Shana Lawler died April 12. Horner was the only one to survive. The story made national headlines and Court TV because Marvin had been arrested on prior DUIs, but always got off with downgraded charges and a slap on the wrist. This time, the judge was not so lenient. Convicted of four counts of second-degree murder and one of assault with a deadly weapon, Marvin is serving 60 years without parole. The decision may have brought justice to the families, but not closure. "People who use that word haven't been here. You have a love affair with your child. We consider this a homicide. Even after criminal justice is served, there is no closure," said Shamong resident Maggie Blong, Megan's mother. Shortly after the crash, friends hastily organized the first run/walk to honor the girls, who came to be known as the "Precious Gems." The families formed the nonprofit Precious Gems Memorial Inc., dedicated to preserving the girls' memories while it works within the community to spread awareness of the dangers of drunken driving, substance abuse and other reckless decisions.
•From the Precious Gems Memorial website*:
"A drunk driver crashed into a car carrying five seventeen-year old children. Four were killed, and the fifth suffered serious injuries. One decision forever altered the lives of six families, and countless others, forever."
*Their website was preciousgemsmemorial.com, but the website is no longer available. It is unclear if the nonprofit is still active (post 2018).
•The drunk driver, Melissa Marvin, was sentenced to sixty years in prison (fifteen years for each victim) on 15 Jan 2000.
•Courier-Post, 8 Apr 1999:
Megan Ann[e] Blong, 17, of Indian Mills, died Tuesday in Kill Devil Hills, N.C. Born in Atlanta, Miss Blong lived in Shamong most of her life. A junior at Shawnee High School, she was a member of the school's executive and yearbook committees. She was active with Shawnee Spirit Week, was a communicant of Church of the Holy Eucharist, Tabernacle, and recently began to learn kickboxing. She. is survived by her parents, James T and Margaret A (nee Goff); a brother, James T, and three sisters, Kathleen, Maureen and Elizabeth, all at home; her paternal grandparents, James T and Helen (nee Gilfeddar) of Darby, Pa.; and several aunts, uncles and cousins. Friends may call Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon at the Mathis Funeral Home, 58 N. Main St, Medford. Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at Church of the Holy Eucharist, Tabernacle. Interment will be in Odd Fellows Cemetery, Medford.
•The Philadelphia Inquirer, 8 Apr 1999:
3 N.J. GIRLS KILLED IN N.C. CRASH \ THE TEENS WERE ON SPRING BREAK. TWO FRIENDS WERE CRITICALLY HURT. THE OTHER MOTORIST FACES CHARGES.
Three teenage girlfriends from Burlington County on a spring-break trip to the Outer Banks were killed when their car was slammed broadside by a drunken driver who ran her sport-utility vehicle through a red light, authorities said yesterday.
Two other friends were badly injured in the crash Tuesday in the shadow of the obelisk commemorating the first flight by the Wright brothers in neighboring Kitty Hawk.
Police said the driver of the sport-utility vehicle, Melissa Lynn Marvin, 29, of Kill Devil Hills, had been twice convicted of reckless driving. She was charged Tuesday with driving while impaired, three counts of felony death by motor vehicle, reckless driving, speeding, and running a red light. She was in jail after failing to post $31,000 bail and faces a court hearing tomorrow.
Killed were Angela McGrady and Amanda Geiger, both of Medford, and Megan Blong of Shamong. All were 17. McGrady and Blong were juniors at Shawnee High School. Geiger had attended Lenape High School but left this year as a junior.
Injured were Michael Horner, 17, a junior at Shawnee from Shamong, and Shana Lawler, 17, who had lived in Medford and moved to Colington on the Outer Banks in the past year. Both were flown to hospitals on the mainland. Horner underwent surgery to remove his spleen and was in the intensive-care unit with a collapsed lung and possible broken rib at Albemarle Hospital in Elizabeth City, N.C. Lawler was reported in critical condition yesterday at Sentara Hospital in Norfolk, Va. [Lawler died on 12 Apr 1999.]
The bodies of Blong, Geiger and McGrady were flown home yesterday.
The four Burlington County teens had taken a bus over the weekend to spend their spring break with Lawler and her parents on the Outer Banks, a favorite destination this time of year.
Police said the five were in a 1988 Chevrolet Cavalier owned by Lawler's parents, Paul and Brenda, when the crash occurred just before 3 p.m. Tuesday.
With Blong behind the wheel, the teens apparently were headed back to the Lawler house.
While crossing U.S. Route 158, the main north-south thoroughfare on the island, they were hit by the 1989 Mitsubishi Montero driven by Marvin.
Police said Marvin was heading north at 60 m.p.h. in a 50 m.p.h. zone and ran a red light. The sport-utility vehicle slammed into the driver's side of the westbound car.
Police Chief Ray Davis said there were no skid marks, indicating Marvin did not attempt to brake.
McGrady and Geiger, who were in the back seat, were dead at the scene. The driver, Blong, who was wearing a seat belt, died a short time later at the Outer Banks Medical Center. Horner was sitting in the passenger seat and Lawler was in the back seat.
Julia Phillips, a cashier at the Amoco station's convenience store, did not witness the crash but saw the aftermath.
The Cavalier, she said, had been hit with such force that it bent in the middle and looked like it almost cracked in half. It spun around and was facing east when it came to a halt.
Rescue crews had to cut the victims from the twisted metal, and the intersection was closed for about three hours, she said.
"If anybody made it out alive, it was God's works," she said.
She said she saw police handcuff Marvin and lead her shaking and in tears to a patrol car.
"I just feel for the families," Phillips said, adding the scene "just ripped my heart out. I stood out there on the curb and cried."
News of the tragedy sent shock waves through Medford and Shamong, from the Shop-Rite on Route 70 where McGrady worked part-time to the house in a cul-de-sac in the Lake Pine section of Medford where Geiger lived.
Horner's parents traveled to Elizabeth City to be near their son. Horner and McGrady had planned to attend the Shawnee junior prom together.
Mark Medvetz, a Shawnee junior, choked back tears yesterday as he described the sweet friendship he had with Blong, who was to be his prom date.
"She touched your heart," he said. "She would open your eyes and let you know you were special.
"When I asked her, she was thrilled," Medvetz said proudly. "She gave me a big hug."
Blong, who had a limp from cerebral palsy she suffered as a baby, had run cross-country track in her sophomore year, usually coming in last but to the cheers of her teammates.
"She was really encouraging. She was always smiling," said Stephanie Kircher, 16, who ran with Blong and learned of her death yesterday at cross-country practice.
Geiger's father, Michael Sr., flew to Michigan to tell his other daughter Kelly, a student at Michigan State, of her sister's death. Geiger's mother, Marilyn, was in the hospital after undergoing hip surgery.
At the McGrady home on a busy road in Medford, about 15 cars were parked on the front lawn while friends and family gathered in the one-story brick ranch home to comfort the girl's family. An Easter bunny flag fluttered from a tree.
"She was very special," said her father, Michael, his voice cracking. "All of her friends and family loved her dearly."
Patricia Milich, spokeswoman for the Lenape Regional High School District, said guidance counselors would be on hand at Lenape and Shawnee High Schools to help students with their grief when they return for classes on Monday.
"We are deeply saddened by the news," Milich said. "The district will make every effort to provide whatever grief counseling services are necessary to help the students."
It is a task that the district has confronted before. Three students from the district's Cherokee High School have been killed in separate accidents involving automobiles in the past year and a half.
•Courier-Post, 26 Apr 2009:
The families devastated when a drunken driver took the lives of four Lenape Regional High School District students and injured a fifth 10 years ago refuse to call the car crash an accident. "When something affects you to the level it has affected us, 'accident' is too common a term. Accidents are not preventable. This crash was easily preventable," said Erin Lawler, Seneca High School's substance abuse counselor. Lawler, 31, of Marlton, is the sister of Shana Lawler, one of the four 17-year old girls who perished in Kill Devil Hills, NC, during the spring break of their junior year in high school. Lenape High School student Amanda Geiger of Medford, along with Shawnee High School students Angela McGrady of Medford and Shamong residents Megan Blong and Michael Horner, also 17, were visiting Shana Lawler, a former Shawnee student whose family recently had moved from Medford. Driving back from the beach on April 6, 1999, they were hit by Melissa Marvin, a 29-year-old waitress and surfer who ran a red light after downing five drinks. McGrady, Blong and Geiger died at the scene. Shana Lawler died April 12. Horner was the only one to survive. The story made national headlines and Court TV because Marvin had been arrested on prior DUIs, but always got off with downgraded charges and a slap on the wrist. This time, the judge was not so lenient. Convicted of four counts of second-degree murder and one of assault with a deadly weapon, Marvin is serving 60 years without parole. The decision may have brought justice to the families, but not closure. "People who use that word haven't been here. You have a love affair with your child. We consider this a homicide. Even after criminal justice is served, there is no closure," said Shamong resident Maggie Blong, Megan's mother. Shortly after the crash, friends hastily organized the first run/walk to honor the girls, who came to be known as the "Precious Gems." The families formed the nonprofit Precious Gems Memorial Inc., dedicated to preserving the girls' memories while it works within the community to spread awareness of the dangers of drunken driving, substance abuse and other reckless decisions.
•From the Precious Gems Memorial website*:
"A drunk driver crashed into a car carrying five seventeen-year old children. Four were killed, and the fifth suffered serious injuries. One decision forever altered the lives of six families, and countless others, forever."
*Their website was preciousgemsmemorial.com, but the website is no longer available. It is unclear if the nonprofit is still active (post 2018).
•The drunk driver, Melissa Marvin, was sentenced to sixty years in prison (fifteen years for each victim) on 15 Jan 2000.
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