Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, June 13, 1995 TAG: 9506130061
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LISA APPLEGATE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
But Sunday night, the 16-year-old caught a ride with his twin brother, Jason, and two other friends. The four planned to go camping nearby.
A few miles down Virginia 613, the car skidded on slick pavement, slid down an embankment and crashed into a tree. The Narrows High School freshman was killed almost immediately.
That was at 11:20 p.m. Eight hours later, at 7:15 Monday morning, a passer-by saw the accident and went to a nearby house to call police.
State Trooper Jeff Rose could not recount the scene Monday without choking up.
"I can only imagine what those boys went through out there ... in the cold, the rain," he said.
Rose said he wasn't surprised no one in the area reported the accident earlier.
"There are very few homes in that area, and at that time of night there's very little traffic," he said.
The two back-seat passengers, who were not wearing seat belts, were thrown from the car. Rain and fog kept a helicopter from transporting them, so they were sent instead to Giles Memorial Hospital, and later to trauma units at Radford and Princeton community hospitals. Their conditions could not be obtained.
A third boy, possibly Jason Clendenin, was pinned in the driver's seat all night, next to Jeffrey.
Jason Clendenin eventually was flown to Roanoke Memorial Hospital, where he was listed in critical condition.
Many of the fire and rescue squad members from Giles and Newport who went to the crash scene knew the Clendenin boys.
"This is a very difficult time for the rescue squads because we're one big family," said Giles Fire and Rescue Capt. Steve Davis. "And Jeffrey was everybody's son."
Jeffrey volunteered for the junior squad as soon as he could: at age 141/2. Davis said the slender, dark-haired teen was quiet, with "all the good traits you'd associate with a Boy Scout."
Jeffrey won the 1994 top runner award, which means he went out on more emergency calls than any other junior member.
"He loved to talk about going out," said his teacher, Carolyn Spangler. "He enjoyed the responsibility of it."
This year, Jeffrey brought his mother, a trained Emergency Medical Technician, to gym class to help him teach cardio-pulmonary resuscitation.
Even though he kept to himself, Davis said, Jeffrey had his mischievous side.
"He'd get in on all these practical jokes - like putting stones in people's boots - then he'd just sit back with this sly, smirkish type grin on his face."
Spangler said Jeffrey couldn't wait to turn 18 - "he was ready for the independence.'' By that time, Davis said, the junior squad member would have been ready for full duties.
"He was already developing into an outstanding squad member," he said.
Keywords:
FATALITY
by CNB