Families mourn loss of two teens killed in crash
Nick Spies of Kent was a 13-year-old gentle giant of a kid — "Teddy Bear" to his parents and three older siblings.
On a sunbaked Friday afternoon, the boy they found so delightful had persuaded his mother to drop him off to swim at a spot by the Green River. Mother and son agreed she would pick him up there at 7 p.m., and off she went to work.
About an hour later, in the 19400 block of the two-lane Auburn Black Diamond Road, Spies, an eighth-grader at Cedar Heights Junior High School in Kent, was riding in the back seat of a Subaru that crashed into two other vehicles. He and Heidi Marie Munson, a 2002 graduate of Kentwood Senior High School, were killed.
Munson, 19, was a gymnast and a cheerleader in high school and a member last year of the dance squad for the Eastside Hawks, a semi-pro football team.
The collision critically injured two of the three other young people in the Subaru: driver Joshua "Josh" Blum, 25, and passenger Dylan McGinley, 16. Both were in serious condition yesterday at Harborview Medical Center.
A third passenger in the Subaru was not seriously injured.
"Alcohol and speed were factors in the accident," said King County Sheriff's Office spokesman John Urquhart.
The unidentified driver of one of the other vehicles, a pickup, was in critical condition at Harborview, and the driver of the third vehicle, a woman, was in serious condition there.
Authorities described the accident scene as chaotic, with teens crying and neighbors scrambling to help. "It was traumatic for the firemen, for us and the other kids who were not involved," Urquhart said.
According to neighbors and witnesses, dozens of teens gathered regularly at Flaming Geyser State Park on the Green River to hang out. Authorities suspect some teens drank beer there.
At around 5 p.m., Spies and Munson hopped into the back seat of the Subaru, which headed west on the two-lane Auburn Black Diamond Road, followed by two cars also carrying teens, authorities said.
About three miles into the drive, after a sharp curve, the Subaru crossed the center line and collided with the pickup, which rolled to the side and hit a fence. The Subaru then struck the third vehicle.
Yesterday at the Munson home in Kent, Eric Munson sat in his living room, stunned at the loss of his oldest child. Heidi Munson was a star on the Kentwood High gymnastics team that won the state title in 2001.
"It is an unnerving thing knowing you are going to bury your own daughter," he said. "It's still unreal to think that it is going to happen."
Heidi Munson's specialty was the floor exercise, and when she was finished, she always cheered on the other 24 team members, several teammates said.
"She was very talented," said former teammate Liz Grajewski, 20, now a sophomore at Iowa State University. "She had a genuine sweetness. She was very easygoing and had a cute little laugh."
After high school, Munson went to beauty school for two quarters before running out of money, her father said. She worked at a day-care center, then at a restaurant, hoping to save enough money to return to school.
She would have turned 20 on Wednesday.
At the Spies residence, family and friends gathered to share pictures and stories of a child they called "Teddy Bear" because they loved hugging him.
At 5 feet 7 inches and nearly 200 pounds, his size belied his gentle nature, they said. Last week, he dressed up as the Easter Bunny and helped kids find the eggs he had hidden.
Though some kids may have found his size intimidating, said his mother, Amy Spiers, the truth was he spent his free time playing with his four cats, three dogs, six chickens and a potbellied pig.
On Friday, Spies pleaded, " 'It's hot, Mom. I want to go swimming,' " she recalled. So she took him to the river to meet friends, the two agreeing she would pick him up after she got off work tutoring children with autism.
Instead, according to family members, the group by the river left early, so the young Spies got a ride in the Subaru.
Amy Spiers doesn't think her son was among those who may have been drinking.
"I don't know why he didn't wait for me," she said.
Tan Vinh: 206-515-5656 or tvinh@seattletimes.com