MEMORIAL VANALIZED

“Mourners are welcome;

those with malicious intent are not.” Amy Tomko

Carlisle Township – Friends of the victims from Tuesday afternoon’s crash on Middle Ave began showing up at the crash site Wednesday to pay their respects and to just be where their friends died.
Amy Tomko’s parents own the property when the crash occurred and she also lives directly across the street. “I saw the crash – I saw the debris flying all over the place after the car struck the tree and pole. I was one of the first people here so I kind of feel a connection to this and a little protective of the kids who died here. It might sound weird but I watched as they lost their life that day – it’s something I’ll never forget.”

Tomko said that she has been keeping an eye on the site because people have been arriving frequently to pay their respects. “If I see people here I’ll come over and just make sure that they know they are welcome to stop by anytime to pay their respects but I also warn them of the dangers of being so close to the road.” Tomko went to the site Wednesday night and blew out candles and cleaned up the site after people had an impromptu vigil. Shortly after 1 a.m. more people arrived and Tomko said she was shocked to see what they had done to the site and the items left by mourners. “They set fire to teddy bears and flowers that were left – the base of the tree was also on fire. I just couldn’t believe that someone would do that to the memorial.”

Tomko was told that friends of 16-year-old Wanda Parker would be stopping by the site Friday after school so she took it upon herself to do a little cleaning. “I just don’t want the kids that are coming today to see what happened here last night, that just wouldn’t be right.”

While standing along side of the road talking with Tomko a 2 door black Ford Explorer drove by at a high rate of speed heading north. As the Explorer got closer to the tracks it seemed to pick up speed – when it crossed the tracks it got a little bit of air but almost lost control on the other side. “This is nothing new, this happens just about every day up and down this road. I just wish people would learn from the deadly mistakes others have made.”