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Survivor heartbroken over death of twin brother

The boys and a friend were riding an ATV when they collided with a car. Matthew Prive died.

By EDDY RAMIREZ
Published April 28, 2006

	Handout photo
	Matthew Privewas, 12

HOMOSASSA - Twelve-year-old Marc Privewas back in his living room Friday, surrounded by family and friends who were watching the movie Kangaroo Jack.

But Marc couldn't sit still. He kept getting up to see himself in the mirror.

His mother, Eileen, said she thinks Marc was looking for Matthew, his identical twin.

Matthew died Thursday afternoon when the all-terrain vehicle he was riding crashed into an oncoming car. Marc was driving.

The impact sent the twins and a friend, William Harvey, flying through the air.

William broke several bones. Marc suffered a minor concussion. Matthew died at the scene.

"He's got a broken heart," Eileen Prive said of Marc. "The two of them were inseparable."

Thursday afternoon was like every other day at the Prive home, which sits on 10 acres along S Pines Meadow Avenue.

Marc and Matthew, sixth-graders at Lecanto Middle School, had just finished their homework. They asked Mom if they could go to a friend's house to ride their ATV.

First do your chores, she told them.

The boys fed the chickens and checked on the rabbits. They they strapped on helmets and hopped onto the ATV.

According to the Florida Highway Patrol, the ATV drove directly into the path of a Honda 300 EX after the twins picked up William and tried to turn onto S Pleasant Avenue.

The two vehicles collided when the drivers swerved to avoid each other. No charges were filed against Michele M. Kennedy, 55, of Homosassa, the Honda's driver.

"They didn't see the car coming," Eileen Prive said Friday, her eyes filling with tears. "They tried to get out of the way, but it was too late."

Since Thursday night, neighbors have poured into the Prive residence to offer condolences.

On Friday, as the family waited for the twins' grandparents to arrive from Clearwater, Eileen and Michael Prive talked about how close the twins were.

At Lecanto Middle, where they were honor roll students, they shared the same friends. They liked taking a pontoon boat to the Homosassa River, where they fished with their father and older brother.

The family remembered Matthew as the more confident of the twins. He was a big Tampa Bay Buccaneers fan and played receiver on the school football team. He loved country music, including Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney, whom he saw several times in concert. Recently, Matthew had begun to take guitar lessons.

The family wondered how Marc will cope. His father remembered Matthew's impersonations of Jim Carrey, his favorite actor, from the movie The Mask. They always made Marc and the others laugh, the family said. At school, the brothers had five out of six classes together.

The family moved to Homosassa from Clearwater almost two years ago.

"We moved here for them," Michael Prive said. "The boys really liked the outdoors."

Eddy Ramirez can be reached eramirez@sptimes.com or 352 860-7305.

[Last modified April 28, 2006, 18:37:02]