CARLETON, Mich. John and Allison Hildebrand went to bed Friday believing that their 16-year-old daughter, Megan, was home for the night.
She wasn t.
Miss Hildebrand slipped out of the house in the wee hours Saturday morning and went for a car ride with friends that ended in a police chase and a horrific crash.
She was pronounced dead later Saturday morning at Toledo Hospital.
The car s driver, Kyle Sexton, 15, of South Rockwood, Mich., died yesterday at St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center.
A 15-year-old boy from Monroe who was a back-seat passenger also was taken to St. Vincent after the crash. Police would not release his name, but said he was listed in serious condition last night.
Police said Miss Hildebrand was in the passenger seat of the silver 2005 Honda Accord when the Sexton boy led a sheriff s deputy in the chase at 2 a.m. The car went off the road in nearby Frenchtown Township and crashed into a tree.
Police said all three youths were wearing seat belts, and that alcohol does not appear to have played a role in the crash. The legal age to drive a vehicle in Michigan without adult supervision is 16.
Yesterday in Carleton, a town of approximately 2,700 in Monroe County about 30 miles north of Toledo, five cars were parked outside the Hildebrand home on Kent Street. One of them was Miss Hildebrand s 16th birthday present: a red Ford Mustang that she had yet to drive.
Her parents spent the afternoon making arrangements for their daughter s funeral and for a kidney donation. Because it s believed that Miss Hildebrand s kidneys were not damaged in the crash, her father said the organs can be donated to a close family friend, a woman in her 40s who needs a transplant.
If there is a positive out of [the crash], I guess that would be it, Mr. Hildebrand said. With Megan, it was everyone else first her second.
The events that led to the early morning crash began when a veteran Monroe County sheriff s deputy on routine patrol noticed erratic driving behavior from the Accord, said Sgt. Greg Berman of the sheriff s office.
The deputy turned on the cruiser s lights to pull over the Honda. The teens vehicle slowed and pulled into the parking lot of a Meijer store on Telegraph Road as if preparing to stop.
But the car abruptly pulled away, veered through a restaurant parking lot and over a curb, and accelerated westbound on Stewart Road.
The driver continued down Stewart, which becomes Bluebush Road. Several yards after a curve near Reinhardt Road, the car went out of control and skidded across three residential front yards before hitting the tree. Shards of plastic from the wreck littered the yard yesterday.
Sergeant Berman said that the deputy pulled through a gas station parking lot to begin pursuit of the car. However, the accident happened so quickly that he wasn t even close to them.
Miss Hildebrand received brain injuries and was airlifted to Toledo Hospital. The Sexton youth and the other boy were transported to Mercy Memorial Hospital in Monroe by ambulance, and later airlifted to St. Vincent, police said.
It took several hours to identify all of the teens involved, in part because none of their parents realized the youths were out, Sergeant Berman said.
It s every parent s nightmare, he said.
Speaking from their front porch yesterday, Mr. and Mrs. Hildebrand said they were still trying to sort out exactly why their daughter left the house so late at night.
She and the Sexton boy had recently met at a youth group for Stewart Road Christian Ministries in Monroe. Once boyfriend and girlfriend, they had become just friends, though close ones, the family said.
Mrs. Hildebrand, her stepmother, said Megan had such a knack for providing advice and helping friends out of tough situations that she often called her the Dear Abby of her group of friends.
Schoolmate Sarah Moore, 15, recalled how Miss Hildebrand was known among her peers for dispensing good friendship and dating advice.
She also loved to laugh, said John Rowland, 16, a fellow junior who shared language arts and history classes with Miss Hildebrand.
She was sweet to hang out with, he said.
Mrs. Hildebrand said she wonders if the Sexton boy may have called her the night of the accident, needing someone to talk to.
The only thing I can think of is maybe Kyle called her upset. I don t know, she said.
One thing she is more certain of is that Megan left the house in a hurry.
She left her purse here, and she never leaves without her purse, Mrs. Hildebrand said.
For her parents, Miss Hilde brand was the adoring and selfless daughter who loved baby-sitting her younger brothers, 7-year-old Brent and 13-year-old Ronnie, and who liked surprising her mom and dad when they arrived home from work by making chicken and mashed potatoes for dinner.
Megan would have been a junior at Airport High School, where she sang in the chorus and was a solid A and B student. She dreamed of attending the University of Michigan and someday becoming an attorney.
She worked hard at her grades, Mrs. Hildebrand said, fighting back tears. She wanted to be somebody. She wanted to make something of herself.
Megan had been active in Girl Scouts when she was younger and developed a strong friendship with her troop leader, Suzie Villerot, who is a neighbor.
I ve known her for a long time, and she was always smiling, Ms. Villerot said.
As yesterday s rain turned from a sprinkle to a downpour, Mrs. Hildebrand recalled how earlier this year on her birthday, she found a letter on her pillow that Megan had written, thanking her for being such a great stepmother.
That was probably the best birthday present I ve ever had, Mrs. Hildebrand said. You couldn t have asked for a better daughter.
Police pursuits aren t unusual in Monroe County, but often they involve suspects fleeing from Toledo police and those drivers often flee back into Toledo, said Sheriff Tilman Crutchfield.
Such chases are often a no-win situation, he said.
They can be dangerous at high speeds, but often necessary especially if deputies are trying to stop a crime in progress, he said.
As a matter of procedure, the department will review Saturday s chase to make sure it s in the guidelines, Sheriff Crutchfield said.
Blade staff writer Robin Erb contributed to this report.
Contact JC Reindl at:jreindl@theblade.comor 419-724-6050.
First Published August 20, 2007, 8:52 a.m.