Town identifies teen victims of weekend car crash in New Brunswick

BLACKVILLE, N.B. — The central New Brunswick village of Blackville has released the names of the three teenagers who were killed in a car crash over the weekend.

Ty Croft, 17, Kobe Curtis, 16 and Denver Jardine, 17, were named as the victims who died early Sunday when the car they were in crashed into a retaining wall.

Croft was from Blackville, while Curtis and Jardine were both from nearby Gray Rapids, N.B., according to obituaries posted on the village’s website.

Blackville Mayor Chris Hennessy said the community is in mourning. “Everyone’s shattered, they’re terribly upset …. They’re in a terrible state of loss,” he said in an interview.

Hennessy also works as a volunteer firefighter, and he was dispatched to the accident scene along with others on Sunday morning. He called the village close knit and said he planned to meet with the victims’ families Tuesday.

Croft graduated from Blackville High School and was a member of St. Andrew’s United Church.

Jardine was a student at Blackville High School and had worked as a summer student at the fish plant in Baie-Sainte-Anne.

Curtis was also a student at Blackville High School. According to his death notice, he could often be found working on his dirt bike or his 1988 Oldsmobile.

Separate funeral services will be held for the teens on Thursday and Friday. The town is providing grief counsellors for residents, Hennessy said, adding the families of the victims have had support from others in the community.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 15, 2020.

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This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Facebook and Canadian Press News Fellowship.

The Canadian Press