Victims’ Kin to Canvass Teens for Clues to Crash

A chill comes over Maureen Williams when she drives down the Santa Ana Freeway near the Alton Parkway exit, where her son and a friend were killed 3 1/2 months ago in a collision with a hit-and-run driver.

“It was his birthday on Jan. 4,” Williams said, holding back tears. “He would have been 22.”

Williams’ son, William Baughn, and a group of five friends from Placentia were heading south in a Ford Bronco on Sept. 30 to go dancing in Tijuana. But at 7:45 p.m. that Saturday, two cars were racing down the freeway. One sideswiped the Bronco, causing it to flip three times.

Baughn and Jennifer Twohy, 19, died at the scene. Two other passengers were seriously hurt but are recovering after numerous surgeries, and two more sustained minor injuries.

The two racing vehicles, which were traveling about 75 mph, left the scene, according to the California Highway Patrol.

CHP investigators have just one lead on the cause of the accident. They received a call two days after the collision from an anonymous Woodbridge High School student who reported that “she had heard talk [at a dance] of two guys bragging that they had been racing on the freeway and had caused an accident,” according to a police report. The dance was at the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, the caller said.

No suspects have been identified, but the victims’ families say they will not stop their quest for answers.

Fliers will be posted today in every classroom at Woodbridge High School. On Wednesday, the victims’ families and friends will distribute hundreds more at nearby shopping centers and will speak to local teenagers who might know something about the crash.

*

“I know there are kids who knew about that accident,” said Williams, a Tustin resident. “We want to let the kids know there were two people who were killed and others who were seriously injured, and yet no one has been caught. . . . We need to bring closure to all this.”

The unanswered questions still turn in the minds of the victims’ family and friends.

“There isn’t a night that goes by when I don’t just stare at the ceiling until 4 a.m., thinking about the accident,” said Katherine Siedentop, 20, Baughn’s girlfriend, who was driving the Bronco. “There was so much confusion, blood and everything.”

With the exception of Baughn, the friends had known each other since high school. Some were attending Fullerton College together. Most had lived in Placentia all their lives.

Siedentop and Baughn met about a year ago when both worked at separate Blockbuster Video stores in Orange County.

The group often went dancing in Tijuana, but Sept. 30 was Baughn’s first trip. They set off in Siedentop’s Bronco, with her driving, Baughn in the passenger seat and a friend, Jessica Barnes, 18, between them. In back were Twohy, Daniel McDonald and Paul Janicki, both 21.

CHP officials said as the group headed south on the freeway, two cars were racing just south of Alton Parkway, where construction narrows the freeway to three lanes.

A driver in the right lane tried to switch lanes to keep pace with his opponent in the left lane, colliding with the Bronco, which was in the middle lane, investigators said.

Siedentop swerved to the left to avoid the impact, then tried to pull back to the right. The vehicle turned over and flipped at least three times, a CHP spokeswoman said.

Twohy, McDonald and Janicki were thrown from the vehicle, Williams said. Twohy and Baughn died at the scene, and McDonald and Janicki suffered multiple bone fractures. Barnes and Siedentop suffered minor injuries. Siedentop wasn’t cited.

“We’ll never know why this happened,” said Robert Twohy, Jennifer’s father. “I don’t think these kids [who hit the Bronco] knew what they had done.

“Maybe the fliers will get some kids to talk about what happened. They can remain anonymous. . . . We’re hoping someone will come forth. It won’t change the outcome, but it will at least bring us peace of mind.”

After the telephone tip, CHP officers talked with the Woodbridge High principal, who later pleaded for students’ help in an announcement over the school’s public address system. The officers also searched the school parking lot for cars that matched the description of the suspects’ cars, but they came up empty.

Police have interviewed seven witnesses, but none had information that would lead to a suspect.

*

The car that struck the Bronco was described as a dark blue late-1970s to mid-1980s Mercury Capri or Chevrolet hatchback coupe. Its driver may have been a Latino man in his mid-20s with shoulder-length hair. The other car was a black 1994 Honda, either a Civic or Del Sol, investigators said.

A $10,000 reward is being offered by the victims’ families to anyone with information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for the accident.

“Investigators said this caller seemed really frightened and didn’t leave a name. But this is the only viable lead that they have,” Williams said. “There’s not much more that we can do. We would like to open this to the kids in Irvine and let them know these people have not been found.”

Investigators request anyone with information to call (714) 547-8311.