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PAYSON -- Grief counselors were on hand today at Mount Nebo Jr. High School in Payson following the death of a 13-year-old student, one of four teens killed in a high-speed car crash over the weekend.
It was a tragic accident and a very sad day for students at Mount Nebo Jr. High in Payson and East Shore High in Orem as they learned what had happened early Sunday morning.
Police say 13-year-old Vanessa Estrada, an eighth grader at Mount Nebo Jr. High, sneaked away from home in the middle of the night with three older boys. They went for a ride in the mountains. Police say 16-year-old Jose Flores, who was the driver, sped around a left turn on Emma Park Road, a few miles east of Soldier Summit, skidded sideways toward a concrete barrier and crashed.
Today, grief counselors were available for students as friends and classmates remembered Estrada.
Lana Hiskey, with the Nebo School District, said, "There are many who knew Vanessa. They are grieving and are sad. She was a social, happy girl. This is a sad day."
Classmate Krissy Kline said, "She was a really good person. She had a lot of friends."
Hiskey says the student council is coming up with a plan to write letters about Vanessa.
"And so, they'll give those letters to Vanessa's family of memories and thoughts that they have of Vanessa. And maybe that can help both the family as well as the students," Hiskey explained.
Students at East Shore High School in Orem were also devastated by the news, and counselors were on hand there as well. An Alpine School District spokesperson said Flores began attending the alternative high school after some problems in his personal life.
He said Flores had earned a reputation as being charming and friendly, wanted to be an architect, and was training to run a half-marathon in St. George with some classmates.
The other teens, 16-year-old Mauro Lopez, and 19-year-old Manuel Gonzalez, were from Orem but were not enrolled in school.
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Story compiled with contributions from Courtney Orton and Cleon Wall.
