Car crash kills Va. parents of four young girls

The parents of four young Fairfax Station girls were killed in a multi-car crash Saturday as they headed home in their SUV with an Italian take-out meal.

Michael K. Merrill, 47, and Jeanne M., 42, were traveling north on Fairfax County Parkway with three of their daughters, ages 13, 3 and 18-months, when their Honda Pilot was hit by another car. The two vehicles then crossed into southbound traffic where another car and a truck hit the oncoming vehicles, about a quarter mile north of the Rolling Road exit, Fairfax County police said. On Sunday, police said the road was wet but it was not raining at the time of the 5 p.m. accident.

Speed and alcohol do not appear to be factors in the crash, but detectives are investigating the possibility that weather conditions may have played a role. This is the 26th fatal crash in Fairfax County this year. Last year at this time, there were 19 fatal crashes.

The three girls were taken to Inova Fairfax Hospital with minor injuries and released to relatives. The Merrills' fourth child, age 9, was spending time with another family for a movie night when the accident occurred, according to the children's aunt, Cathy Melanson of Alexandria, a teacher at Bishop Ireton High School in Alexandria.

"They were the most amazing parents in the entire world and were there for anything the kids wanted to try. They worked to make it happen," said Melanson, who declined to name the children for the sake of their privacy. The two older girls attend St. Bernadette School in Springfield and the 13-year-old is a nationally ranked swimmer with Curl-Burke Swim Club, Melanson said.

Merrill was a retired Navy pilot working on avionics security for the Department of Homeland Security, after a previous career with Northrop Grumman. Jeanne Merrill was a consultant for Booz Allen Hamilton working mainly from home, her sister said.

"They were so dedicated to their children," from trekking to swim meets to soccer matches. "They really were a close family," said Melanson.

The 13-year-old was able to tell trauma doctors and detectives how to reach her relatives. Merrill's family is from Indiana but his wife's relatives are in Virginia.

"They were on their way back from Bertucci's with dinner, that was it.," Melanson said. "Just out to pick up dinner."