School mourns for lost pupils
EMMETT, Idaho – Counselors helped grieving students in the small community of Emmett as officials tried to determine what caused a car to veer off the road and into a pond, killing all five children inside who were on their way to school.
Police said a witness reported seeing the 1989 Ford Tempo slide off an icy, winding highway and into the pond at about 7:30 a.m. Tuesday.
Divers found the vehicle in about 20 feet of water with the children, from two families, still trapped inside. Killed were driver Brooke Probst, 15; Brandt Probst, 12; Megan Walker, 15; Tyler Walker, 14; and Kyle Walker, 12.
The counselors are helping students at Emmett High School and Emmett Junior High School.
Six counselors from Meridian were helping two Emmett High counselors. Also, some Emmett High seniors in a program called Natural Helpers were aiding fellow students.
“We feel very thankful for the people who have extended their time to us,” school Superintendent Tom Carlsen said.
“It’s a tragic loss to families, the community, schools. You just can’t explain or put into words how tragic this is until it happens to us, close at home.”
“This has never happened before,” said Maigan Walker, a member of Natural Helpers. “I’ve experienced loss before but not this big because it’s affected everybody in the school. It’s shown how close everyone has been through all this and how everybody’s been able to help out.”
A coroner’s report said all five children drowned in the 38-degree water. Gem County Sheriff Clint Short said a dive team got to the area about 60 to 90 minutes after the accident.
Cold water can slow a person’s metabolism to the point where resuscitation is possible for 45 minutes to an hour, but chances are greatly reduced after that, said Brandon Wilding, an emergency room doctor at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise.
Short said divers could not see into the vehicle in 20 feet of water, so it was pulled out by a tow truck.
Efforts to resuscitate the children failed.
“We were officially responding to a recovery,” said dive team leader Lt. Dave Timony.
Timony said the vehicle was found right-side up on the bottom of the pond.
The county dive team formed in October and includes six deputies. All responded to Tuesday’s accident even though five were not on duty.
The children all lived in Sweet, an unincorporated area along State Highway 52 about 16 miles northeast of Boise.
The accident site, north of Black Canyon Dam, is about 30 miles north of Boise.