Central Iowa Town Mourns Death of Five Young People
It's been an unbearable week in the city of 27,000 following an accident that no one can explain.
A Mason City police officer looking into a power outage found a horrible crash scene early Monday morning.
The officer came upon a Jeep Liberty that had hit a tree in the 400 block of Sixth Street Southwest in Mason City, before bursting into flames, killing all five people inside the vehicle. They were all Mason City young people, ranging in age from 14 to 20. All five were active in the North Iowa Youth for Christ.
The victims were Roderick Lewis, 18. His girlfriend, Jade Green, told the Globe Gazette "He was a really good rapper and dancer and he wanted to draw--he's a really good artist."
Sydney Alcorn, 14. Youth For Christ High School campus director, Katie Zickefoose, told the Globe Gazette "She really, deeply cared about her friends and they knew it... she was the type of friend--and this is just observing--you wouldn't have to ask her for help. She just offered. She would just be there."
Alex Wiebke, 19. He wanted to be a military chaplain and his father told the Globe Gazette "He was a gentle giant."
Zach Hartley, 20. Hartley had recently left Hy-Vee in Mason City for a full-time job and Store Director Ina Cavin told the Globe Gazette "He was just very humble, very likable. Always willing to help. Whenever anybody needed anything, he would help."
Donte Foster, 17. His cousin Deosha Foster described him to the Globe Gazette as the kind of kid that, "When his friends didn't have anything to eat, he would come steal food from his mom's fridge."
The Globe Gazette says it could take weeks to determine what happened in the single-vehicle crash. During that time, and long after, five families and an entire city will continue to mourn five young people lost way too early. My condolences to everyone who knew and loved them.