They were good kids doing their best to stay out of harm's way on New Year's Eve when they drove right into the path of a northbound Amtrak train.
They'd planned to attend a get-together in Park City Sunday evening, but light snow had fallen all day, and their parents were concerned about driving conditions. Brent Larrabee, 18, called his father about 11 p.m. to say he and his friends had changed their plan. They'd stay in the valley instead.Thirty minutes later, Larrabee, Jamie Swensen, 19, and Aaron Price, 18, best friends, high achievers and 1995 graduates of Alta High School, died instantly as they crossed the tracks at 10200 South and 300 West.
They'd picked up a friend in South Jordan and were coming back to the Sandy/Draper area when the car Larrabee was driving, carrying Price and Swensen - the one traveling in the middle of a three-car caravan - was struck.
"These kids are role models - the cream of the crop," said Patrick Casaday, first counselor in the Sandy Utah Crescent West LDS Stake presidency and acquainted with all three teenagers.
"These are talented, beautiful, wonderful kids. They all are very service-oriented, always putting others ahead of themselves," Casa-day said. "This is an absolutely tragedy. There've been a lot of tears shed."
The Sandy community spent the first two days of the new year gathered around the families of the three teenagers, killed at one of the most deadly railroad intersections in the state.
Through the years, a number of drivers have died at the site, where there are no lights or crossing arms - only a stop sign and crossbucks, X-shaped black-and-white emblems. Passengers in the caravan said it was hard to tell lights from the approaching train from vehicle lights on I-15, 50 yards to the east.
On Dec. 1, 1938, 21 school children died when their bus was hit by a train at the same location. It was the worst bus accident in history at the time.
South Jordan Mayor Theron Hutchings on Monday called the intersection hazardous and said the city hopes to close the throughway within the next few years as improvements to I-15 and surrounding roads are completed.
"We know it's a dangerous intersection and are anxious to take steps to remove it or move it."
South Jordan police said Tuesday they were continuing to investigate the accident. There were no signs of alcohol involved.
Early Sunday, a group of Alta graduates gathered at a missionary farewell event. Aaron Price, an accomplished pianist and honor-roll student, was there as was Larrabee and a number of young people who later that night piled into three cars; one just ahead and one just behind the victims' car when it was thrown by the Chicago-to-Los Angeles Desert Wind train.
"As I was leaving (the farewell meeting), Brent was talking about a friend who's at the MTC (Missionary Training Center)," said Tami Casaday, who graduated with Larrabee, Price and Swensen and now attends Brigham Young University. "They were talking about how they were going to see him off at the airport in a couple of weeks. All the guys were really excited about their missions."
All three of the victims lived within several blocks of each other near Sunrise Elementary School in east Sandy. Church and school officials said all three were academic high-achievers and leaders among their peers.
Larrabee was on a full academic scholarship at the University of Utah and studied business and accounting. During a somber recounting of his son's activities Monday, Larrabee's father, Ross, said proudly that Brent had just received grades from his first quarter. He'd earned a 3.67 GPA.
Larrabee's mother suffers from multiple sclerosis, and the young man took on many additional re-spon-sibilities at home, helping around the house and caring for his 15-year-old retarded brother. Church members remember Larra-bee speaking at stake conference and helping his younger brother to administer the sacrament.
Price was a gregarious, social teenager and worked at Feature Films for Families in Murray. The day of his death, he met with Bishop James Jensen to get paper-work in preparation for an upcoming LDS mission in June.
One passenger in the car traveling in front of the victims said a quick glance back shortly before the accident caught Price smiling from the second car.
"Both Brent and Aaron were against the clique thing," said Tami Casaday. "They were kind of against the idea of popular kids and unpopular kids."
The two had been good friends for a long time and had recently gotten better acquainted with 19-year-old Swensen, a student at Utah Valley Community College and former member of Alta's Dance Company.
Swensen loved horses, was a 4-H club member and enjoyed hiking and backpacking, Jensen said. "She had strong, compassionate feelings for everyone," he said. "She never caused her parents to worry."
She had several leadership positions in Young Women's activities in the church.
"All three were fine young people," Alta Principal Linda Sandstrom said Tuesday in between meetings with teachers and counselors about the accident. "This is a real loss. It's a tragedy - it's been very difficult to deal with this morning."
Two of the victims have siblings who attend the school.
Ross Larrabee offered a sober message to parents. "Love your kids while they're here."