MONTCALM COUNTY, Mich. — Friends and family of two teenagers killed in a crash in Montcalm County are saying gas inside the car may have caused it to burst into flames.
The victims, according to police, are Trucker Shattuck, 19, from Six Lakes and Tristion McCallister-Harris, 17, from Mt. Pleasant.
The teenagers, who family members say are cousins, were killed when the car they were riding in hit a tree off Musson Road in Belvidere Twp.
According to police, the car caught fire shortly after impact. They said the driver, William Amble, 19, was transferred to Spectrum Butterworth in Grand Rapids. He's listed in fair condition.
Blake Warchuck, Shattuck's girlfriend, was at the scene just hours after the crash mourning the loss of her high school sweetheart.
"It still doesn't feel real," Warchuck said. "But, I found this [what looks like a ring] in the wreck and it just feels to me like it's one last thing from Trucker that I can just keep. It's a memoir, like, he was planning on getting me a ring and it's like he followed through one last time."
On Shattuck's Facebook page, Warchuck is listed as his wife.
"Yeah, we're not really," Warchuck smiled. "Just pretty much. I loved him a lot and I'm really gonna miss him and he was my best friend. It's gonna be hard to go on without him."
Shattuck's brother, Dusten Sadler said he spoke with his big brother moments before the crash.
"I knew they were going to get Tristion, his cousin, from Mt. Pleasant and then they were on their way," Sadler said. "Then, they had to get gas for someone or something."
Gas, that Shattuck's friend, Jason Miller said was in the car when it crashed into the tree.
"When they hit the tree, the gas went [everywhere]," Miller said. "Trucker died on impact and Tristion tried to get out and the car exploded when Tristion was trying to get out."
By the next day, while covered in soot, the trio could all be seen collecting items from the wreck.
"Keeping small things...we got the hubcap, we got the door knob and she [Warchuck] got the ring," Miller said. "Just getting little things to remember the last things we can of our brother, ya know."
While taking home pieces of the life the two teenagers left behind, Warchuck, Sadler and Miller also shared memories.
"Trucker was the goofiest kid I'd ever met," Warchuck said. "He just loved to make people laugh and he was always there for everyone...he was the most loyal kid I'd ever met."
Miller said he's known he both McCallister-Harris and Shattuck much of their lives, adding, he even babysat them.
"Tristion's wonderful. He was a good kid, too," Miller said. "You want to freak out, you want to scream and holler and there's no point in that. There's nothing positive about the situation at all but you got to stay positive.
The impact Shattuck and McCallister-Harris had on the ones who love them, was made apparent, as countless others showed up to the crash site on Monday to mourn.
It's not yet known what caused Amble to leave the road. Police said the investigation will take several weeks.
"He [Shattuck] wasn't a very religious person but he liked spiritualism," Miller said. "Even thinking about him and Tristion, right now, he's probably just having an adventure in the afterworld."
