Crime & Safety
Friends, Loved Ones of Crash Victims Build Makeshift Memorial
A simple wooden cross, flowers and balloons mark the spot where the car in which Frederick Alexander and Alesha Roehl rolled off of Buckhill Road toward I-35 Tuesday afternoon.
Friends and loved ones of Frederick Alexander and Alesha Roehl returned Wednesday to the spot where the the previous day.
A makeshift memorial marks the place where the car in which Alexander, 16, and Roehl, 17, were riding in careened off Buckhill Road toward its landing spot on Interstate 35 just north of the Burnsville-Lakeville border Tuesday afternoon.
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Alexander and Roehl, who weren’t wearing seatbelts, were thrown from the car. Alexander, of Burnsville, died at the scene of the 2:30 p.m. crash. Roehl, of Northfield, died a few hours later at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis.
A few pieces of the Camry’s trim—including a rearview mirror and a chuck of a rear tail light cover—were scattered on the grassy shoulder of Buckhill Road Wednesday morning. But that debris was overshadowed by a simple wooden cross hammered into the ground in front of the bent highway fence. The cross—made of 2-by-4 lumber and a rectangle piece of plywood—was decorated with messages to the deceased.
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Surrounding the cross were a few bouquets of flowers and balloons. And painted onto the curb and pavement near the memorial were more messages from mourners.
Both went teens went to an alternative learning center near Lakeville South High School. The other kids involved are students at Lakeville South.
In an interview with the Star Tribune, Alexander's sister, Gabby McClenney, 20, described him as a happy soul, a good-natured football player. She said the family lives in the Sunny Acres mobile home park, not far from the crash scene. Carissa Lueum, 16, told the STRIB that Alexander was a class clown—"always dancing and singing and running through the halls.
"School will never be the same at all. He was friends with everyone," Lueum said.
Roehl was a cheerleader, known for her devotion to Tupac Shakur and proclivity for changing her hair color. However, Cindy Roehl, Alesha's grandmother, described a gentle girl who loved animals and the outdoors. She told reporters with the STRIB that Roehl had once nursed a calf back to health after it had been frozen to a pond on the family's rural property.
CRASH UPDATES
• To see the original story from Aug. 21, .
• The Minnesota State Patrol released no additional information on the crash or on the conditions of the three other teens in the car who were injured and taken to local hospitals.
• is handling the funeral arrangements for Alexander and Roehl. to see the death notice for Roehl. Alexander's obituary can be seen .
• Patch will update with new information.
