Dad: 2 dead boys found hours after crash

updated 2:09 p.m. ET Sept. 17, 2007

GARY, Ind. - The father of one of two high school seniors who died in a car crash said the boys were left near the road for hours after police overlooked them while investigating the accident.

Brandon Smith and Dominique Green, both 18, were killed in the single-vehicle accident early Saturday, according to the Lake County coroner's office. The two other occupants survived the crash and told police and emergency workers that two of their friends were still at the crash site, said Darren Smith, a Gary firefighter and Brandon's uncle.

But Arthur Smith, Brandon's father, said authorities didn't find the boys' bodies — he said he found them himself when he went to the crash scene hours later.

"It took me all of five minutes to find the boys dead," Smith said. "They were right there, I didn't look under anything. I just seen my son, I seen my baby."

Calls to Gary Police seeking comment were not returned Monday.

Gary Police Department Commander Samuel Roberts earlier told the Post-Tribune that the officer who responded to the accident did not deviate from departmental procedures. He could not explain why the two were left along the roadside and said he did not yet know all the details of the case.

"I don't know if the officer was told there were four people in the vehicle or if the occupant said he had dropped off the other people," Roberts said. "Right now, what I do know is that the police department responded and an accident report was taken."

Jacquelyn Green said she is not blaming anyone for her son's death.

Mourners held a vigil at the accident scene during the weekend, with some saying that the boys might have survived if authorities had found them sooner. Mayor Rudy Clay also stopped by the crash scene to offer condolences, but he referred all inquiries to Gary Police Chief Thomas Houston.

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