Two days after the fatal crash that took the lives of three Billings West High School students, people in the community are paying their respects and mourning the losses.
The Yellowstone County Coroner's Office on Monday released the names of the three teens who died in Friday's crash: Thomas Christopher Lindsay, 17 years old; Conner Hunter Devere, 16; and Kylie Rae Larsen, 18.
Olive Grimm, a friend of crash victim Kylie Larsen, said Monday afternoon that Kylie was a unique soul that you don’t meet often. “She was always super sweet and kind and never said anything harsh to somebody,” said Grimm.
Grimm said she first met Kylie through church. She said a lot of the time she didn’t have anyone to sit with, but Kylie would sit with her. “Freshman year, we started talking and we ended up having a class together. I ended up losing my brother, and it was the only class I looked forward to,” said Grimm.
Greg Upham, superintendent for Billings Schools, said that a trained crisis response team and newly-hired substitute teachers have been brought in to ensure that students and staff have the social and emotional support they need during this difficult time.
“I was at both schools this morning and the crisis response team and our administrators were working with our students and just doing the best. I though that everyone was doing as well as they could. This is a horrible tragedy and pour hearts go out to the families and the friends of this,” said Upham. Upham thanked the community for the support they have shown toward the family and friends mourning the loss of the three teens.
According to the Montana Highway patrol, speed and road conditions are considered factors in the crash. Road conditions were drifted with snow when the crash occurred.
GoFundMe pages have been created for the families of three victims:
There is also a GoFundMe for the family of sole survivor of the crash, Zac Malcom, to help with medical expenses.
