Video emerges from inside speeding car before crash that killed four
Chilling footage has emerged from inside the car involved in the horrific crash that killed three teenagers and a woman near Hamilton.
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Video has emerged from inside the car involved in a horrific smash that killed three teenagers and a woman in the state’s southwest.
The footage shows a car travelling along a narrow country road, believed to be the Wannon-Nigretta Falls Rd at Bochara.
A young male voice can be heard asking: “What speed are we doing?”
“130”, a female replies.
“Sweet”, a male responds.
It was posted to Snapchat in the hours before the fatal impact which killed Alicia Montebello, 31, year 10 student Joshua Elmes, Lucus Garzoli and teenage girl who is yet to be identified.
A second girl, aged 17 and understood to be the sister of the other teenage girl killed, who was also in the red Toyota Corolla remains in hospital in a serious but stable condition.
Police declined to comment on the video but they have publicly stated they believe “extreme speed” was a factor in the tragedy.
Family reveals loss after Bochara crash
Lucus’ family remembered their “beautiful son” and “amazing big brother”.
“Lucus was a much-loved member of our family and his loss will be felt deeply across the entire community,” a statement from the family read.
“He was an amazing big-brother and amazing son and will be missed greatly.”
The Hamilton teen was a member of the Warrnambool cadet unit with his family proudly posting photos online of him dressed in army fatigues.
Heartbroken friends also paid tribute to Lucus online.
“Fly High Lucus, I love you so much you were like my little brother and I helped raise you. I hope you’re resting easy up there beautiful boy,” wrote one friend.
Another said: “I love you so much bro and I can’t believe your (sic) gone, rest well bro your (sic) my brother and I hope you have uo (sic) there.”
It is believed Lucus attended Bainbridge College, with floral tributes and colourful fairy lights laid at the school’s front entrance.
Meanwhile, the devastated father of Joshua Elmes has revealed his son told his mum he was going for a walk in the hours before he lost his life in a horror crash in Victoria’s southwest.
Matthew Elmes said Joshua, a year 10 student at Monivae College in Hamilton, “told my wife, Lee-Ann, he was going for a walk”.
“For some reason, Josh decided to get in a car with some old friends instead of coming home.
“In a moment, everyone lost something.”
He remembered his son — who had only just returned from a youth camp with his brother — for his love of cadets and drumming.
“Josh was in the army cadets run through his school,” he said.
“Being in the cadets, and playing drums were two of his favourite activities.”
With police investigating how many people were wearing seatbelts and the car’s speed, Mr Elmes told the Herald Sun “peer group pressure seemed to encourage them to push the boundaries”.
“I heard that they didn’t wear seatbelts and often well exceeded the speed limit.”
Joshua leaves behind his 12-year-old brother Aaron and a younger sister Jemma, aged 5.
His last Facebook post, shared less than two weeks ago, wished her a happy birthday, and said he loved “watching (her) growing up”.
It comes as the sole survivor of the crash may hold the key to piecing together what caused Saturday’s deadly collision, the state’s top road cop said.
The four victims were killed in the early hours of Saturday morning when their car slammed into a tree at “extremely high speed” off a narrow, rural road in Bochara.
Alicia Montebello was remembered by her brother, Jaryd, as a beloved, “beautiful sister taken way too soon”.
“You will be forever in our hearts and a part of my girls’ lives,” he wrote on Facebook.
“You were loved very much.”
Meanwhile, students gathered at nearby Monivae College where Joshua attended, grieving arm-in-arm and sharing tears around a floral tribute placed near the front gate of campus.
Monivae College principal Jonathan Rowe shared the tragic news of Joshua’s death in a letter to parents, expressing the school’s support for the Elmes family.
The college held a special school assembly in memory of Joshua on Monday morning.
“Our heartfelt sympathy goes out to Josh’s family,” Mr Rowe said.
Specialist detectives from the major collision investigation unit continue to examine how the crash occurred on the single-lane road and what events led up to it.
Floral tributes were left at the base of the tree where the Toyota was found crumpled next to at 9.30am on Saturday.
On Monday afternoon, a 17-year-old girl remained in a serious but stable condition at The Alfred hospital and police were still investigating the identity of the driver.
Assistant Commissioner for Road Policing Glenn Weir said investigators would probe whether the five occupants were wearing seatbelts and whether speed was a factor in the crash.
“We have to be 100 per cent sure who’s who, we have to be 100 per cent sure who was sitting where,” he said.
“It is a really traumatic and destructive scene.”
He said the task was made more difficult when people were not wearing seatbelts, but added it was too early to say how many people were wearing them at the time of the crash.
“We’re still uncertain who the driver was at this stage,” he said.
We’re hoping that the 17-year-old girl survives and we’re able to unpack with her in due course, what happened.”
Assistant Commissioner Weir said they believed the five friends were at local waterfall spot Nigretta Falls prior to the accident, and crashed sometime between the early hours of the morning and 9am, when a passer-by discovered the scene on Wannon-Nigretta Falls Rd.
“So it could be the vehicle had been there for a long time,” he said.
“We have got a lot of CCTV from that particular place (Nigretta Falls), so that’s really important to us to establish what time that vehicle in particular was there.”
Wannon-Nigretta Falls Rd is a shared single-lane route of less than 10km in length on which drivers have to pull over into gravel to allow oncoming vehicles through.
The wrecked red Toyota Corolla was removed from the scene about midday Sunday.
Writing could be seen scrawled on the seats of the car, including the words “drive safe”, “love people, help people” and the word “monkey” accompanied by a love heart.
A government spokesman from the Education Department said their thoughts were with the school communities dealing with the “tragedy” of the Bochara crash.
“Our hearts go out to the students, staff, families and community that have been impacted by this devastating tragedy,” the spokesperson said.
They confirmed that additional support for staff and students was being provided for those at Bainbridge College as well as support from Headspace for those parents affected.
The department and Headspace have also offered support for the Moviae College community.
Saint Mary’s Catholic Church Father Mugavin said there was clear devastation across the community.
“A number of people have been coming in and lighting candles in a little shrine for these young people,” he said.
Southern Grampians Mayor David Robertson said the tight-knit community would be hurting and the victims “would be known right across the town”.
“Even if they don’t know the children, they would know the parents or the grandparents or their brother or sisters.”
He said that road safety continued to be an issue, from “the conditions of the roads” to wildlife.
“I’ve been here for 45 years and there’s more and more of wildlife on the road, it’s getting to a point it’s very dangerous.”
Cr Robertson said a trauma team supplied by the federal government was set to arrive in the area on Monday.
Premier Daniel Andrews said his thoughts were with the loved ones of the four victims.
“On behalf of all Victorians I want to extend my deepest sympathies, my thoughts and best wishes,” he said.
It comes during a horrific weekend on Victorian roads.
In addition to the Bochara tragedy, two people were killed after a car smashed into a power pole along Victoria Drive in Thomastown about 7.20am Sunday.
A 42-year-old Thomastown woman died at the scene and a Roxburgh Park man, also 42, died in hospital.
A 73-year-old woman from Shepparton died in hospital after a collision in Carag Carag on 26 May.
Another woman., 53, died on Sunday evening following an alleged hit-run collision in Point Cook on Friday night.
Major Collision Investigation Unit detectives charged the 25-year-old man with negligently causing serious injury, failing to stop and render assistance and other traffic offences.
Assistant Commissioner for Road Policing Glenn Weir said the poor driving behaviour made his “blood boil”.
“Since Friday, we’ve had catastrophe on our roads,” he said.
“None of these are accidents, they’re collisions, they all have a cause and they could all have been avoided.”
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