Two new graduates of West Potomac High School were among four women killed late Thursday night after their car was hit by a tractor-trailer on the Beltway.
Though Virginia State Police found alcohol in the vehicle carrying the four, they have not yet determined if it played a part in the collision.
Emergency responders transported the fifth passenger, a 17-year-old female student, to INOVA Fairfax Hospital in Fairfax, and she was released Friday.
The tractor-trailer, driving westbound on the Beltway, slammed into a 2002 Volkswagen convertible driven by Elaine M. Thackston, 20, of Troy, N.H., at 10:40 p.m.
Thursday as she tried to merge back onto the highway from a safety zone bordering the off ramp. Thackston was a student at George Mason University.
The collision sent the Volkswagen into the adjacent concrete retaining wall, flipping the car and throwing three of the five occupants from the vehicle.
The passengers killed included Thackston and graduating seniors Lydia Margaret Petkoff, 18, and Renee Nicole Shelkin, 18. GMU student Sarah Renee Carter, 19, Petkoff’s cousin and Thackston’s roommate, also died in the collision.
Police have not yet determined where the women were driving, whether the occupants were wearing seat belts or whether the convertible’s top was down.
Fairfax County Public Schools will offer crisis support to students and staff throughout the summer, schools spokesman Jay Garant said.
Students and friends of the victims mourned Friday.
“It was one of those really bad tragedies that nobody thought could happen,” said Derek, a junior at West Potomac High School and a friend of Shelkin.
