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Community in shock after two teenage boys die in dirt biking accident

Posted at 9:27 PM, Jan 01, 2018
and last updated 2018-01-02 09:27:51-05

CORINNE, Utah  - Neighbors and friends struggled with their emotions, after a dirt bike accident killed two teenagers and injured another.

“Bad things happen to the most amazing people,” said Tim Norman, a neighbor and volunteer fireman who responded to the call. “That family would give you the shirt off their back, that’s just the way that family was. It just makes me sick that it happened to such a super family.”

Box Elder County Sheriff’s Office says a 14-year-old was driving a dirt bike with a 16-year-old on back, when they collided head on with a 15-year-old driving the same model dirt bike. All three were ejected, with the 15-year-old dying on the scene.

“What a tragedy,” said Chad Bywater, a neighbor and first responder. “They all liked to hang out with one another, like to ride dirt bikes.”

Deputies say it happened just before 9 p.m. on New Years Eve. Most dirt bikes don’t have headlights on them. Deputies say the two drivers were both wearing helmets, the surviving passenger was not.

“Most of the kids out here really cling to Wyatt,” Bywater said of one of the boys. Deputies have not yet released the names of the three boys. In a show of respect, Fox 13 will wait to name them until deputies or the family give us permission.

“You couldn’t ask for a better person to have in the neighborhood,” Bywater said of Wyatt’s dad, Adam. “You don’t expect anything of this magnitude to hit this community and when it does, you hope everybody can pull together for that family.”

Neighbors say the surviving 16-year-old may have had surgery Monday, and is recovering at a nearby hospital.