Victims' Determination, Compassion Recalled

A group of Waldorf emergency workers was returning to Station 12 Saturday night when they noticed an accident on Smallwood Drive. Police said yesterday that the driver of a 2003 Ford Taurus lost control, crossed a median, hit several trees and then struck a 1994 Honda CRX. Police identified the Taurus driver as Wells and Younger as her passenger.

Station 12 sent two ambulances to the scene. On board one was Mallard, a mother of two who had been volunteering as an EMT since May 2004. The responders decided that the teenagers needed to be flown to Prince George's Medical Center for treatment, and Mallard said she would go along.

At 1:30 a.m. yesterday, Dan Stevens, Waldorf Volunteer Fire Department chief, received a call at home: The helicopter was overdue. When he tried to recount his initial reaction in an interview yesterday, Stevens began to weep. "I hoped there was a forced landing. I hoped that everyone was safe," Stevens said when he regained composure.

Stevens and dozens of other volunteers rushed to the station to wait for updates. At 2:45 a.m., police confirmed that Mallard had died.

At 5 a.m., about 40 volunteers gathered in a circle at the fire station and took turns saying how they felt, Stevens said. Many recounted their last encounters with Mallard, the tall, compassionate and friendly mother with an "infectious smile."

"People say, 'That could have been me. That should have been me,' " Stevens said.

Dozens of people stopped by Mallard's home in Waldorf to offer condolences to her husband, Ken, and their two sons, ages 11 and 15. Ken Mallard declined to comment.

Younger and Wells graduated from Westlake High School in June. Principal Chrystal Benson said both were outgoing and popular with classmates and teachers.

Younger moved to Waldorf from Northern Virginia in her junior year and was elected to be a class officer her senior year, Benson said.

Younger took high-level math classes and physics as a senior. She was also an aide in the guidance office, a position given only to students with high grades who have proven they are "really trustworthy and responsible," Benson said.

Wells is an active member of Lutheran Church of Our Savior in Bryans Road, where her father, Scott Wells, is a worship and praise leader.

The church's pastor, the Rev. Christopher Ogne, released a statement last night on behalf of Wells's family: "The family is painfully aware that there are four other victims in this case, and at this time, we are praying for God's comfort and blessing."