A teenage girl died while riding her bike along a prominent street in coastal Florida, cops said.
Kendra Ahrens, 15, succumbed after being struck by a US Mail Carrier box truck on Santa Barbara Boulevard Wednesday afternoon, as she headed home from her job at a nearby waterpark.
She had been a varsity cheerleader at Mariner High and was working at Sun Splash Family Waterpark only for the summer, her parents said – still reeling from the loss days later.
The crash occurred on a stretch of street near Mid Cape Terrace in Cape Coral, where the girl worked and lived.
She’s being remembered as ‘a sweet and bubbly girl’ whose ‘life got cut too soon’ – by friends who said she ‘was loved by so many people.’
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Kendra Ahrens, 15, passed away after being struck by a US Mail Carrier box truck on Santa Barbara Boulevard Wednesday afternoon
The girl had been headed home from a summer job at a nearby waterpark on her bike, cops in Cape Coral, Florida said. The truck that hit her is seen here
We played chess after wrestling and cheer practice and she was so frustrated because she didn’t understand how to play,’ wrote one friend on the teen’s online obituary.
Sharing an impromptu photo, he added, She was mad at me because I wouldn’t stop taking pictures of her
‘[B]ut her birthday was so close and [I] needed pictures to post.’
Another added a video of the pair, recalling, ‘[E]verytime we would have a sleepover at my house we would always go in the hot tub.
‘[I]t was like our routine thing to do.’
Adding a photo of the dearly departed seated at a restaurant, another remembered: ‘[O]ur first dinner together.
‘[K]endra being so happy because she got to spoil me.’
Others also pointed to the girl’s generosity in remembrance, while the cause of the crash that claimed her life remains under investigation. The mail truck stayed behind at the scene.
The cause of the crash that claimed her life, as of writing, remains under investigation
Those who had been at the Tropical Breeze Fun Park at the time of the crash, however, were able to share some insight, with staffer Joey Milligan revealing to WINK-TV how the collision may have occurred
Those who had been at the Tropical Breeze Fun Park at the time of the crash, however, were able to share some insight, revealing to WINK-TV how the collision may have occurred.
‘We had one three-person group here at the time of the incident,’ explained staffer Joey Milligan of a group of mini-golfers.
‘They didn’t see anything, but they definitely heard brakes, crash, and they wondered what was up,’ he said.
‘They didn’t hear any of the sirens yet because it was still kind of fresh. It just happened.’
The girls parents, meanwhile, confirmed Ahrens had been a varsity cheerleader at the Cape Coral high school, and had been on her way home when she was hit.
Shortly after the crash, news crews caught glimpses of the stopped mail carrier truck surrounded by police tape, as well as Ahrens’ savaged mountain bike still on the pavement.
A memorial has since sprouted up along the stretch of road where she was hit, as cops have yet to state who was at fault for the incident.
The driver of the truck was not immediately named.
Cops have yet to state who was at fault for the incident, as tributes for the teenage continue to pour in
A memorial has sprouted up along the stretch of road where she was hit, as cops in Cape Coral continue to probe the disaster
The investigation into the collision is being handled by the Cape Coral Police Department, as one local posited that Ahrens was likely hit while coming around the corner onto Santa Barbara, one of the region’s busiest streets
‘This corner is very bad for riders, and I’m sorry to say somebody was hurt here,’ Cape Coral resident Edi Recker told NBC-2.
‘It’s sad.’
Police’s investigation into the crash remains ongoing. A memorial service, as of Sunday, has not yet been held.
