Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Toxicology results found oxycodone and metabolized cocaine in all three victims
Preliminary toxicology tests from the Ocean County Medical Examiner's Office have confirmed the presence of oxycodone and metabolized cocaine in all three victims who died earlier this month when their car slammed into the Pine Beach Elementary School, Ocean County Prosecutor Marlene Lynch Ford said. However, the presence of the drugs found in all three does not mean that the use of illegal drugs was a factor in the Feb. 3 accident, she said. “The metabolized cocaine levels, I am advised by experts at the lab, is consistent with cocaine use two or three days prior to the accident," Ford said. "We cannot therefore conclude that use of that illegal drug was a factor in this accident. Test results also did not detect the presence of alcohol …
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Toms River Schools suggests options for students, mourners
Students, residents and alumni stricken with grief at the fatal crash into Pine Beach Elementary School have counseling and emergency services as an option, said a message from Toms River Regional Schools last week. The high-speed crash early morning Feb. 3 killed three recent Toms River schools alumni – Matthew Budesa, Matthew Witzgall and Kimberly Van Gorden — and damaged a portion of the elementary school, which created a 90-minute delayed opening that day. In a message sent to parents and guardians and posted on the Toms River Regional Schools’ website homepage for a portion of last week, the district advocated the use of counseling for those affected most by the tragedy. “If you feel that your child is in need of counseling or …
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Ocean County Prosecutor's Office waiting for a number of test results to come back
There won't be any speedy determination about the cause of the horrific crash that took the lives of three young people last week, the spokesman for the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office said. It was a week ago today that a car driven by Matthew R. Budesa, 20, struck the east wall of the Pine Beach Elementary School with such force that it ripped a six-by-six hole in the school's media center and crushed the engine section of the car. Budesa, the son of Pine Beach Councilman Robert Budesa, Kimberly Van Gorden, 20, of Beachwood, and Matthew Witzgall, 21, of Toms River, all died at the scene of multiple traumatic injuries, authorities have said. Investigators are waiting for the results of the accident reconstruction, any possible mechanical …
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Hundreds of mourners, young and old, waited in line to pay their respects to Matthew Budesa and his family
Chances are, it didn't matter to the hundreds of people who came to Matthew Ryan Budesa's wake Monday just how and why the car he was driving slammed into the Pine Beach Elementary School, killing him and two other friends late last week. What mattered was supporting Pine Beach Councilman Robert Budesa, his wife Linda and Matthew's three older brothers, Robert Jr., William and Michael. What mattered was saying goodbye to the bearded young man in his casket, now forever 20 years old. And if you entered the Anderson and Campbell Funeral Home on Main Street in Toms River by the front door Monday afternoon, you would have made a mistake. "Watch your step," said a woman who greeted people at the door. "The end of the line is down the hall." …
Beachwood resident remembered as smiling young woman
It was a solemn walk, through a lobby where 14 small ceramic angel figurines watched over an entryway and a dozen or so small birds flew from branch to branch in a glass birdcage display. And along the way, the friends and family of Kimberly A. Van Gorden embraced and reminisced. Mourners for Van Gorden, the 20 year-old Beachwood resident who died in a high-speed car crash into Pine Beach Elementary School Feb. 3, gathered at Carmona-Bolen Funeral Home on Main Street, Toms River on Tuesday. Many who came to celebrate her short life lined the chairs along the wall of the funeral home, sharing embraces, whispers, tears and joyful memories of Van Gorden. She was one of three who died in an automobile accident Feb. 3. Van Gorden, along with …
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Friends, family gather at Winding River Park to honor those who died in horrific crash at Pine Beach Elemntary School
The young people stood stoically in the frigid air, shivering as they clutched lit votive candles in their hands. Some of the flames in the glass holders flickered and went out in the chill wind at Winding River Park. They stood quietly, awkward and unsure in the face of death and loss. They came to mourn their three friends - Matthew Budesa, Kimberly Gorden and Matthew Witzgall - who died together in a violent and puzzling car crash in the early morning hours of Feb. 3. "I'm speechless," a youth in a wheelchair whispered. Wendy Duffy, Beachwood, came with her daughter Krystena and son Michael Runke to honor the three who perished when a car driven by Budesa slammed into a brick wall at the Pine Beach Elementary School. "It's hard," she …
Friday, February 4, 2011
County investigators attempt to reconstruct accident that killed Pine Beach councilman's son, two others
Investigators from the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office are still reconstructing just what happened during the early morning hours of Feb. 3, when a car driven by a councilman's son slammed into a brick wall at the Pine Beach Elementary School. The probe began yesterday morning, almost immediately after a tow truck removed the mangled 2011 Hyundai Accent - bundled up in a blue tarp - from the east parking lot of the elementary school on Pennsylvania Avenue. The driver, Matthew Budesa, 20, Pine Beach; Kimberly Van Gorden, 20, Beachwood; and Matthew Witzgall, 21, Toms River, all died at the scene, said Deputy Chief Detective Michael Mohel of the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office. Budesa, a 2009 graduate of Toms River High School South, was …
Toms River Patch asks: Your opinion on when facilities should close or delay opening, due to weather or other events.
Winter more often than not finds us glued to the forecast, wondering just how bad an impending snow storm will be, and then students will listen (with anticipation) to see if classes are canceled. Toms River Schools have faced a snow day and delayed opening this year amid a record-breaking snowy winter. Ocean County College also announced class cancelations for this year's storms. Neighboring school districts are piling on the snow days with more frequency, due to many variables. State transportation (NJ Transit buses for example) and state offices faced delayed services, too. Is the decision to close or delay a simple or complex one, in relation to weather? That's our Question of the Day. We want to hear your thoughts: Are the folks who …
Car slammed into side of Pine Beach Elementary School; school not in session at time of accident
Three young people, including the son of a Pine Beach councilman, died early this morning when their car careened into the eastern side of the Pine Beach Elementary School at a high rate of speed, police said. Matthew Budesa, 20, Pine Beach; Kimberly Van Gordon, 20, Beachwood; and Matthew Witzgall, 21, Toms River, all died of multiple traumatic injuries, said Deputy Chief Detective Michael Mohel of the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office. The accident happened some time after 4:30 a.m., when a Pine Beach police officer had made a routine check of the school grounds. It was called in at 6:48 a.m, when an employee arriving for work at the school discovered the car, Police Chief John Sgro said. "It didn't happen at 6:48 a.m," Mohel said. "That'…
Art
4:42 pm on Friday, February 25, 2011
It's so sad that these teens are gone. I don't think that we will ever know what happened. Perhaps it was drugs maybe not, It could have been the gas pedal for all we know. We should instead think of the great loss that these families face., and the great loss we all suffer when life so young is lost. Who's to know what these kids may have done in the future? One of them could have discovered the… more ›