Hundreds of mourners went to Encinitas on Wednesday to mourn two teens killed in a fiery crash earlier this week.
The horrific reality of the deadly car crash north of Los Angeles on Monday night really hit home when the friends and family members gathered in memory of the two victims and in support of three others still in hospitals.
CHP investigators still haven'T said why the SUV carrying the five people overturned; in fact, officers still haven't said who they think was driving at the time of the crash. What is known is that witnesses saw the vehicle swerve right, then left, causing it to overturn and then plow into a van travelling the opposite direction.
Recent Cathedral Catholic grads Amanda Post, 18, and Natalie Nield, 17, were riding in a Ford Expedition with Amanda's boyfriend, Derek Thomas, 19; Drew Dellis, 22; and local trainer John Adams, 39. Post and Nield were killed along with Wendy Rice, 35, a cheerleading coach who was driving the other van.
Mourners from around San Diego, but mostly from North County where Post and Nield were from, expressed their grief Wednesday at the loss of the teens, who were returning home from a training camp in Mammoth.
"She had the kindest, softest, most gentle nature, and yet she was tough as nails," Amanda's father, Greg Post said on Wednesday. "We'll never be able to fill this void, ever."
Post lost the youngest of his four children, who was a straight-A student bound for Cal Poly, where she planned on running as a student athlete.
The teens' names were scribbled Wednesday on the arms of their former teammates -- and were visible on pictures on their T-shirts. The informal service was followed by a run of sympathy for the girls and hope for the three hospitalized men, including Thomas, who is also a recent Cathedral Grad. He was supposed to leave Friday for Occidental College, where he planned on playing football.
"He got put into an induced coma yesterday -- just because the pain is too bad for burn victims and stuff," said Brian Moynihan, a friend of Thomas'.
Greg Post said Thomas still doesn't know about his daughter's death and said that he's now praying for the teen who was supposed to marry his daughter one day.
