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'We are ... Romeo and Juliet'
Ordered to part, two teens leave a final note and step in front of a train.
©Associated Press
March 22, 2003
ORANGE CITY -- As the CSX freight train drew closer, 15-year-old Brittney Chisolm and 16-year-old Sean Blanchette stepped onto the tracks, embraced tightly and kissed.
The conductor tried to stop the train but could not.
Classmates said the two high school sweethearts were inseparable. But Brittney's parents told her recently she could no longer see Sean. No one knew what they were contemplating in response.
After Thursday's tragedy, investigators found several notes, computer messages and notebooks outlining plans their plans to run away and possibly kill themselves, said Gary Davidson, a spokesman for the Volusia County Sheriff's Office.
"Brittany and I are desperate. I vowed that death couldn't keep us apart and it isn't," Sean wrote in one note. "I hope us doing this will be a reminder of how love can still be in this age ... that we are a true Romeo and Juliet."
Investigators on Friday positively identified Brittney's body. The teenage boy's body hadn't been identified yet.
Sandra Lumbery, 15, a 10th-grader at DeLand High School, said there was no sign what her classmates were planning.
"She was full of life and would make people smile," Lumbery said. "They made a great couple."
Sean was considered a class clown. Brittney enjoyed good-natured ribbing about her Canadian accent; her classmates described her as always upbeat.
"They were always holding hands and hugging," said Michelle Pescatore, 16. "They were like perfect together."
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