Loudoun Crash Cut Short Promising Young Lives

Muse, a Chevy Chase bank manager, found himself looking on in horror as rescue workers tried to recover his children's bodies from the bottom of the culvert. Witnesses said Dustin, who got his driver's license in March, appeared to be driving at the posted 45-mph speed limit. Alcohol and speed do not appear to have been factors in the accident, Troxell said.

Wednesday's accident brought to 18 the number of traffic fatalities this year in Loudoun, Troxell said. Five of them happened on Route 15, a narrow two-lane road that winds through rolling hills southward from Frederick toward Prince William.

A straight-A student, Dustin had just been inducted into the National Honor Society, and he was a fairly cautious driver, his father said. "Like any other teen he would sometimes go a little fast, but he was a good driver," Muse said.

At 7:30 a.m. yesterday, shortly after homeroom, Thomas Johnson teachers broke the news to students. Football players and cheerleaders gathered in the media room. What started out as a small group soon ballooned to more than 200 students, said Loose, who attended. "It was very quiet," she said.

There was a similar stunned silence at Monacacy Middle School, Loose said. Principal Everett Warren remembered Courtney as a bright young student who loved animals and making home videos of her family and who "always had a friendly smile and a kind word for everyone."

A memorial for the two teenagers is expected to be held this weekend.

Staff researcher Meg Smith contributed to this report.