Two teenagers are dead after an overnight accident near west suburban Willow Springs.
17-year-old Jonathan Grabinski and 18-year-old Salvatore Melant were driving east on the 9400 block of Archer Ave when authorities say their Ford Explorer lost control near a bend and hit a tree.
The accident was reported at 3:37 a.m. Saturday, and both victims were pronounced dead at the scene, officials confirmed.
Grabinski lived in the 10600 block of Ridge Drive in Chicago Ridge, and Melant lived in the 4200 block of W. 82nd Place.
Friends of Grabinski told NBC 5 he was a junior at Richards High School, and as they sorted through the wreckage, they grieved together for their classmate taken too soon.
"When I heard about Jon dying, I couldn't believe it. I had to come see it for myself," one friend shared, "He was just a good friend of mine, and I'm going to miss him. I loved the kid."
Some area residents say this road, with its 55 mile-per-hour speed limit is dangerous, and has already claimed several lives before last night's accident.
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"It was like finding out my son passed away again, like the morning I found out. It's devastating," said Michael Toomey, whose son Dylan died in the same area four months ago Friday on his way to work.
Crosses and memorials line the stretch of Archer where Grabinski and Melant died last night.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
