1981 — March 6, Mid-Valley High School auto crash, Underwood Road, Throop, PA — 8
— 8 Associated Press. “8 Teens Die in Pa. Crash.” Gettysburg Times, PA. 3-7-1981, p. 5.
— 8 Sunday Intelligencer, Doylestown, PA. “8 Teens Killed as Car Sails 190 Feet…” 3-8-1981.
— 8 Tyrone Daily Herald, PA. “Classmates to Attend Funeral of Crash Victims.” 3-10-1981, 4.
— 8 Tyrone Daily Herald, PA. “Towns Mourn Eight Teens…After Violent Crash.” 3-9-1981, 4
Narrative Information
Associated Press, March 7: “Throop, Pa. (AP) — Eight teen-agers, four boys and four girls, were killed when the car in which they were riding hurled down an embankment and flipped over on its roof in this Lackawanna County community police said. The accident occurred late Friday night when the driver apparently lost control of the car on a rural road, police said. Details on the accident were sketchy as the police investigation continued today
The victims pronounced dead at the scene by Lackawanna County Coroner William Sweeney, were identified as
Anthony Lukasik. L7.
Greg Lebanic, 17.
Michael Cheresko, 15, and
David Thomas, 17, all of Dickson City.
Jody Hafich, 14 and
Michelle Cizik, 15, both of Bell Mountain, and
Elizabeth Mecca, 16 and
Gail Vetri, 15, both of Throop.”
(Associated Press. “8 Teens Die in Pa. Crash.” Gettysburg Times, PA. 3-7-1981, p. 5.)
Associated Press, March 8: “Throop, Pa. (AP) – In one of the most gruesome car crashes ever in northeastern Pennsylvania, eight teen-agers were killed when their two-door coupe swerved into a guard rail and sailed about 190 feet through the air before landing on its roof down a 30-foot embankment, authorities said. Police on Saturday were still trying to piece together details of the accident. Only one of the four boys and four girls was carrying identification, they said, and it took hours to notify the victims’ families. Investigators said they were not even sure who was driving the car.
“The victims, students at Mid-Valley High School, were returning from a party at a nearby industrial park when the accident occurred late Friday night, according to students who went to the crash scene Saturday morning. “I’m lucky it wasn’t me,” said one boy, looking at the spot where the automobile was almost flattened by the impact. “I came down the same road 15 minutes before at 115 miles an hour.”
“The students said the nighttime gatherings, which shifted to the industrial park after a crackdown on youth conduct by police in nearby Dickson City, usually featured a bonfire and beer drinking. While there was no drinking Friday night, they said, the gatherings also featured high-speed driving along Underwood Road, a popular shortcut between Throop and Olyphant. “It’s a tough way to learn a lesson,” said the mother of the boy who admitted the high-speed driving. “This will have a traumatic effect on the student body, as well as the entire community,” said Dr. Thomas F. McDonnell, who heads the Mid-Valley School District, near Scranton. “We’ll remember this one for years to come.”
“Friends and teachers described the dead youths as “nice kids” with not a “troublemaker” among them. Larry Holeva, a Mid-Valley student from Dickson City, said one of the victims, 16-year-old Elizabeth Mecca of Throop, “was always laughing a lot.” “She liked sports and cheering. She wanted to be a nurse,” he said. “Every one of them were good kids. It’s so hard to believe. None of them were troublemakers. They were all nice kids. I don’t think that they had 10 demerits among them,” said Mary Lou Gillar, an English teacher and adviser to the cheerleading squad. “I knew most of them. All were super kids. None had any kind of problems at school,” echoed Jerry Luchansky, a vice principal….” (Sunday Intelligencer, Doylestown, PA. “8 Teens Killed as Car Sails 190 Feet…” 3-8-1981.)
March 9, United Press International: “Throop, Pa. (UPI)….The accident, considered the worst in Lackawanna County history, occurred about 11 p.m. as the four young couples were returning home from a party on a winding, seldom traveled road between Olyphant and Throop.
“Police said the late-model Chrysler Cordoba car, driven by Anthony Lukasik. 17, was apparently traveling at a high rate of speed when it struck a guardrail, became airborne for 200 feet and landed upside down in a 30-foot deep gully….”The car looked like it had been through one of those things that crushes cars in junkyards,” said county Coroner William Sweeney….
“The accident occurred on a new access road to the industrial park and school area. Sweeney said the road was heavily marked with tire skid marks. “That new road there is just perfect for speeding – no traffic, new blacktop,” Sweeney said. “It beckons kids to speed there….
“”It was just a get-together. There was no drinking involved,” Mayor Stecco said. “It was just a place where the kids went where they could play their disco music on tape decks as loud as they wanted and no one would bother them”.” (Tyrone Daily Herald, PA. “Towns Mourn Eight Teens Dead After Violent Crash.” 3-9-1981, p. 4.)
March 10: “Throop, Pa. (UPI)…. More than 700 relatives and friends Monday observed an official day of mourning for the youths by attending an interfaith memorial service at St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church…. Mid Valley High School, which all eight victims attended, excused 800 students from classes Monday to attend the memorial service next door at the church.” (Tyrone Daily Herald, PA. “Classmates to Attend Funeral of Crash Victims.” 3-10-1981, p. 4.)
Sources
Associated Press. “8 Teens Die in Pa. Crash.” Gettysburg Times, PA. 3-7-1981, p. 5. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=6648119
Associated Press. “8 Teens Killed as Car Sails 190 Feet, Lands on Roof.” Sunday Intelligencer, Doylestown, PA. 3-8-1981, 2. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=31103168
United Press International, Throop, Pa. “Classmates to Attend Funeral of Crash Victims.” Tyrone Daily Herald, PA. 3-10-1981, p. 4. Accessed 5-25-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/tyrone-daily-herald-mar-10-1981-p-4/?tag
United Press International. “Towns Mourn Eight Teens Dead After Violent Crash.” Tyrone Daily Herald, PA. 3-9-1981, p. 4. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=102971218