The bodies of two teenage boys were discovered several hours after their SUV crossed the centerline of a Missouri highway, struck a rock bluff and ended up far down an embankment.
The deadly crash happened at approximately 2:10 a.m. local time on Wednesday, July 22, along State Route MM in Jefferson County, according to reports from NBC affiliate KSDK, Fox affiliate KTVI and the Leader.
Authorities said 19-year-old Jerome K. Bates III of House Springs was driving a Chevrolet Trailblazer westbound when the vehicle crossed the centerline near the intersection of Miller Road and slammed into a rock bluff.
Bates was traveling with 17-year-old Blake A. Burton of Lake Ozark.
The wreck apparently went undiscovered for nearly four hours. Missouri State Highway Patrol troopers were dispatched to the crash site at approximately 6:05 a.m.
When troopers and other first responders arrived, they found the Trailblazer far down an embankment. Bates and Burton were pronounced dead at the scene.
The Regional Medical Examiner’s Office later confirmed the identities of both teenagers to the Leader.
Video recorded at the scene showed the wrecked vehicle at the bottom of the embankment before emergency crews and towing personnel pulled it back up.
WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW:
The Missouri State Highway Patrol is the agency investigating the deadly crash. Authorities have not released additional information about why the Trailblazer crossed the centerline or whether speed, weather, impairment or another factor may have contributed.
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