Taylor Univ Crash Victim Misidentified 5 Weeks Ago

[Glow]

Glow,

I totally agree with you. Something just doesn't make sense here. I would imagine the parents were there constantly for five weeks,and they didn't notice anything peculiar even down to the hands,feet,,ears etc? I saw a picture of the two girls before the accident,except for them both being blonde and fair skinned,they didn't look very much alike.

Something just doesn't add up. Strange and sad.

Yes, it is interesting isn't it? After reading some of the articles she was up and sitting on the side of the bed etc...

I wonder how much of what happened here is because we believe what we are told? What I mean is that the parents (both sets) were told by "authority figures" ie: the funeral home, the Dr's and nurses etc which girl was which. They were numb with shock and people tend to become very accepting in that state of mind. Good for Laura's family that they caught this eventually and brought it to the attention of everyone. I feel worse for them in all of this.

 

[Dark Knight]

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=2027601&page=1&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

*snip* A Taylor University staff member and four students — including the girl identified as Cerak — were killed, while the girl initially believed to be VanRyn, 22, survived but was severely disfigured and in a coma.

It was VanRyn who died in the accident, while Cerak survived and ultimately emerged from the coma.

A Striking Resemblance



The Cerak family had held a funeral for Whitney, though they had actually never viewed the body. They wanted to remember Whitney as she was before the accident.

"There was a striking resemblance between the pictorial ID and the victim," said Ron Mowery, Grant County coroner.

 

[dark_shadows]

I thought that maybe you did Dark Shadows. I thought that you picked out the really important part of that article and highlighted it. If you hadn't I might have zoomed right past it. I had already been thinking along those lines. I was thinking about how a new mother loks so intently at her babys other features besides the face. looking for familiar landmarks. Later she plays with her babys feet and puts shoes on those littel feet everyday. If I could not identify my child I would go straight to their feet. Feet usually come out relatively unscathed no matter what the trauma, plus they are so individualized and familiar to a mother.

Hi Glow,
You are good Glow!!That is why I highlighted it,being important and so that people would not zoom right by it. (I do that myself sometimes)
Thank-you very much for the post.

 

[Dark Knight]

This is an EXCELLENT article about this and other similar cases, and explains why it was hard to recognize Cerak, due to facial swelling, a neck brace, and the respirator. Also talks about the coroner's credentials:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060602/ap_on_re_us/mixed_up_victims;

 

[hoppyfrog]

Today from: http://woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4978793

Laura's roommate felt 'something not right'

GRAND RAPIDS -- After Laura VanRyn's Taylor University roommate visited her in the hospital, she felt something wasn't right. She voiced her concerns to the university, prompting school officials to launch their own investigation.

Jim Garringer, a spokesman for Taylor University, said, "At one point during a therapy session, she was asked her name. She tried to say it a couple of times. The therapist then gave her a piece of paper to write her name on. She wrote, 'Whitney Cerak.'"

Just days later, that suspicion was confirmed.

Late Thursday night, a blog connecting both the VanRyn and Cerak families was updated.

In it, Whitney Cerak's sister Carly wrote, "We were told that Whitney was asking for us and when we saw her she was coherent enough to cry, so we all cried together. She immediately began to say, '"Let's go home."'

more at link

 

[hoppyfrog]

There is a great post from yesterday in the Laura Van Ryn blog. The post is made by Carly Cerak, Whitney's sister, and tells about the family meeting Whitney in the rehab center and Whitney starting to understand what is going on. Here is the link:

http://lauravanryn.blogspot.com/

Hoppy

 

[dark_shadows]

This is an EXCELLENT article about this and other similar cases, and explains why it was hard to recognize Cerak, due to facial swelling, a neck brace, and the respirator. Also talks about the coroner's credentials:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060602/ap_on_re_us/mixed_up_victims;

Hello Dark Knight,
Thank-you for the link.I found the story on the 2 teen boys yesterday on the yahoo search,today I put in another search on coroner mistakes and found other stories along with this;
news link

Coroner in mistaken ID case to step down

June 1, 2006

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By BEN SCHMITT

FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER



The coroner responsible for the misidentification of a Michigan woman thought to be killed in an April car accident said today that he is not cut out for the job and plans to leave his post at the end of the year.

Grant County, Ind. Coroner Ron Mowery said he has a law enforcement background - he served as county sheriff, Marion Police chief and Marions mayor - and completed a state coroners association training course, but was not certified.

Im a career law enforcement officer, Mowery said Thursday. The decision to leave this position is something I decided before this tragedy, which has taken a huge toll on me.

Mowery said he was appointed last year to finish out the term of the previous coroner, who left the elected position for another political office.



Grant County, Ind. Coroner Ron Mowery said he has a law enforcement background - he served as county sheriff, Marion Police chief and Marions mayor - and completed a state coroners association training course, but was not certified.

Im a career law enforcement officer, Mowery said Thursday. The decision to leave this position is something I decided before this tragedy, which has taken a huge toll on me.

Mowery said he was appointed last year to finish out the term of the previous coroner, who left the elected position for another political office.

 

[JBean]

VanRyn's face wasn't seriously wounded.if someone had looked, this may not have happened.

>>Grant County Coroner Ron Mowery said the "entire disaster" could have been avoided if Cerak's sister _ moments after she was told Cerak was dead _ had not been advised not to look at what was actually the body of Taylor University classmate Laura VanRyn.

"It was out of concern for how she would handle the shock of that," Mowery said. "We reflect now that perhaps that would have negated this entire disaster."

Mowery said that the victim's body was seriously damaged but that her head had not been heavily wounded.<<

http://orangecounty.cox.net/cci/newsnational/national?_mode=view&_state=maximized&view=article&id=D8I07S100

 

[BillyGoatGruff]

Wouldn't the family members who went to be by her side for the last five weeks have known which kid it was????

Not if it was a really bad wreck. Ever seen anyone who'se face has kissed a dashboard at 60+ MPH?

 

[BillyGoatGruff]

If she was conscious and alert enough to play a board game, you gotta wonder if she wondered who in the heck the VanRyns were, and where was her own family?

Pain killers do a lot to dull the mind. And a certain amount of brain damage can be expected from such a trauma, so she may have said and done things that seemed strange at the time, but were dismissed as symptoms of brain injury.

 

[Dark Knight]

Getting plowed into by a semi does tend to do some serious damage.

 

[Dark Knight]

Another very good article on the entire story:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/20060602/ts_usatoday/anguishfollowstragiccaseofmistakenidentity

It theorizes that denial played some role in it, as apparently there were several indications sooner that it was the wrong girl. But no question at first she was unrecognizeable.

 

[Rachael]

I read the blog the family kept. They said her face was swelling a little but not a lot. I don't understand this at all. Wouldn't they notice something about her (her hands, feet, birthmark, freckles, beauty mark, mole..something) that would tell them it wasn't their daughter? The whole thing is so darn sad. On the blog it also says the dad played frisbee with her in the hospital room, so the girl must have been somewhat alert. Unlike many other people I don't even think they look that much alike. This is just terrible.

 

[hoppyfrog]

From http://woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4985567

"Laura's boyfriend, Aryn Linenger, spoke of visiting her in the hospital and wondering why her eyes were blue, not green."

 

[BillyGoatGruff]

From http://woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4985567

"Laura's boyfriend, Aryn Linenger, spoke of visiting her in the hospital and wondering why her eyes were blue, not green."

She was in a coma for several weeks, wasn't she? So it would be some time before anyone who would notice the difference would ever see her eyes. Although, to be honest, I have family members whose eyes appear to change color whether they're outside or indoors because they're actually kind of hazel (which can appear either green or brown). My nephew's eyes appear alternately blue or gray at times, depending on what light he's in. And if you're not looking for differences, it might take a while to pick up on them, especially if your subconscious realizes the truth is far too horrible to acknowledge.

 

[JBean]

I saw a little clip from the service. The bf said something like:

How can I know and love someone for 3 years and not be able to tell it wasn't her?
I ask myself that everyday.

It was really moving.

 

[dark_shadows]

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

NEW YORK — DNA testing is virtually infallible when used to determine a person's identity, but how reliable are the people responsible for conducting the investigations?

That question is at the heart of the case of two college students, Laura VanRyn and Whitney Cerak, who were involved in an April 26 car crash in Upland, Ind. One of the women, thought to be Cerak, was pronounced dead on the scene by local coroner Ron Mowery. He said he relied on the dead woman's friends and physical evidence found at the accident scene, including a photo ID, to make his identification. Four days later, the woman thought to be Cerak was buried.



Not Every Coroner is a Trained CSI

Medical examiners are physicians, pathologists or forensic pathologists with jurisdiction over a county, district or state.They have degrees in areas such as DNA analysis and forensics, and they know how to run DNA tests to make mathematically certain they are identifying the right person.

A coroner, on the other hand, is an elected or appointed official who usually serves just one county and often is not required to have formal medical training or a minimum level of education in death investigating. In fact, many coroners are known to take the position as a side job.

news link

 

[EdinburghLass]

I think the family has taken the blog down..

 

[hoppyfrog]

I think the family has taken the blog down..

The VanRyn family took down their blog, but the Cerak family has one up. It's at http://whitneycerak.blogspot.com/

 

[Beyond Belief]

We were in tears when she stood up on both legs, took three steps forward and looked at us with a huge smile and said 'Lets take the stairs,'" her father, Newell Cerak, wrote Friday in the blog, which details her medical progress.

Cerak had been using a walking boot to help her bear her full weight

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MIXED_UP_VICTIMS?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US