Friends of a Liberty Middle School student who died along with his father and a Maryland woman in a 4-vehicle accident on U.S. Route 15 Thursday evening are mourning their loss, in part, via a Facebook.com Web page.
As of Friday evening, nine friends had joined the group “R.I.P. Sean Stegner” and some had posted memories of the 14-year-old.
They described him as a caring friend who could cheer them up when they were sad or frightened.
One friend recalled Sean calming her down during a tornado scare and wrote, “he always made me smile and laugh im really gonna miss that kiddd.”
Robert Stegner, 49, and Sean were driving south on Route 15 in Frederick County when a northbound Cadillac SUV, having just struck a Honda Element from behind, crossed into the southbound lane and hit the Stegner’s Chevrolet minivan head-on, Maryland state police said.
The driver of the Cadillac, Jennifer Carter, 27, of Point of Rocks, Md., was also killed in the crash, police said.
After hitting the Honda and the minivan, the Cadillac sideswiped a Chevrolet pick-up, but neither the truck driver nor the driver of the Honda were sent to the hospital.
Both of those vehicles were without passengers.
Carter was not wearing a seat belt, but the Stegners were, police said.
Alcohol does not appear to have been involved in the crash.
Moments before the accident, the Frederick County Sheriffs office had received a call that a Cadillac SUV was passing vehicles on the shoulder of Route 15. It’s unclear if Carter was attempting to pass the Honda or if she “ran up on” it when she hit it, police said.
Calls to the Stegner’s Clifton home were not returned. Neighbors say the family, like others in the neighborhood, mostly keeps to itself.
Fairfax County School officials declined to comment on Sean’s death.
Robert Stegner left behind a wife and three daughters, according to neighbors.
