Vanessa Dorwart and Gina Gentile had a suicide pact. They stood in front of an Amtrak Acela train last week near the Norwood train station, embraced, then were gone.
No one will ever really be able to make sense of what happened. Friends of the dead girls are left to grieve, while parents and educators scramble to save the living.
"Tell their parents to hold their kids close, no matter how stupid you might think it is or if you're goofing around. Don't let go," said Mary Devault of Norwood, Pa. Her daughter, Laura, was a close friend of the girls.
Vanessa and Gina had been despondent after the death of Gina's boyfriend, Bill, who was killed by a car as he rode his bicycle to her home last month.
Friends say they knew the girls were depressed, but thought they would get over it.
"I saw a breaking point coming for them, but I didn't think they would do something like this," said 10th grade student Megan Darby.
Classmates from Interboro High School gathered around the memorial near the Norwood train station.
They were offered grief counselling at school on Monday, and many took advantage of it. School officials are hoping to head off others who may have given up hope.
"Are there other students who, perhaps, are experiencing issues they've been dealing with for a while who might, for some reason, get the idea that this is a way out," said Superintendent Nancy Hacker.
The police have been looking at the text messages and emails Gina and Vanessa exchanged before taking their lives.
They've also been talking to a third girl who backed out at the last second. They are hoping to identify other kids who might be at risk.
Police also want to know if anyone else could have alerted adults before it was too late.
Funeral services will be held this weekend.
