A trip to celebrate their graduation from Walter Johnson High School has ended in tragedy for the families of two teenagers in Montgomery County, Maryland.
Camille Gagne and Jaidon Smith were killed Wednesday night in Hardy County, West Virginia, when their car went off a road. The two had traveled to West Virginia with a large group of friends to spend the week in a cabin together hiking and playing games.
Gagne, 18, had planned to study chemistry at the University of Maryland.
Her parents are devastated.
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"Oh, she was wonderful. She had the brightest smile. She was a very happy girl," Camille's mother told News4.
Camille’s sister, Sarah, was looking forward to having Camille on the College Park campus, where Sarah is a senior.
Last Wednesday, Camille was in a group of recent graduates who headed out to West Virginia in several cars.
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"They were on their way there; two cars arrived … This is a large group; there were 12 kids, I believe, three cars, and two cars had arrived. They had all left together," Camille's mother said.
A recent prom photo taken at the reflecting pool shows Camille and her friend Jaidon, who was also killed.
According to the Hardy County Sheriff’s Office, Camille was behind the wheel when the car she was driving left the road on Route 48 between the towns of Baker and Mooresville.
Camille was ejected from the vehicle and died at the scene. Jaidon, who was in the backseat, also died at the scene. Two other recent Walter Johnson graduates, 17- and 18-year-old boys, survived the crash.
Jaidon’s parents have set up a scholarship fund at the high school in his honor.
Outside Camille’s home in Kensington, people have left flowers in her memory, at the exact place she was standing just last week when a graduation photo was taken.
“I don’t know who put the first bouquet out front by ... our Terp sign, and there are a bunch out there now, and people say and do nice things and they hug you and it makes me cry, but it’s so meaningful," Camille's father said.
Neighbors say they will put a lit candle in the window to remember Camille.
