News footage of the scene after the crash in Virginia that killed three teenagers (WTTG).
A Virginia teenager who was involved in a fatal car crash that killed three of her friends was hospitalized for two weeks before her family found out.
According to reporting by Washington, D.C.-based NBC affiliate WRC, the Virginia State Police said an unidentified 16-year-old girl, whom they are calling “Marta,” was reunited with her family after the crash. The teen was the sole survivor of the crash, which took place after midnight on Sept. 28, when police spotted the stolen car on Interstate 395 in Virginia. Three other juveniles were killed — two 16-year-old boys and a 17-year-old boy — after the driver lost control of the vehicle and hit a jersey wall.
Police said the girl”s family spent two weeks not knowing where she was. She continues to recover from her injuries, which were reportedly life-threatening.
According to WRC, the girl’s sister spoke with Telemundo and told the Spanish-language news station that she had permission from their mother to leave their home in Maryland to hang out with her friends on the night before the crash. The sister said that when Marta got into the car, she had no idea it was stolen.
The sister told Telemundo that Marta called her family using the driver’s phone less than an hour before the crash. The sister then recounted how Marta was on the phone with her as the ride took a dangerous turn, telling Telemundo, “I remember she told them to take her home already, but they said they were going to go do other things and then they would bring her back here.”
The sister continued, “That’s when the officer recognized them and started following them. She says she grabbed onto the seat and kept telling them to stop, that she wanted to get out, because she felt something was wrong, that something was going to happen to her.”
State troopers recognized the stolen car and tried to pull it over. The driver led police on a high-speed chase and reportedly tried to turn onto an exit ramp to escape, but was going too fast and lost control of the car. None of the four teenagers were wearing seat belts.
The 17-year-old boy was pronounced dead at the scene; the two 16-year-old boys died at the hospital. One of the 16-year-old boys was behind the wheel and did not have a license, police said.
