An 18-year-old man and his 15-year-old sister were killed Friday morning in a two-vehicle crash on a rural Frostproof road.

  • Teen brother and sister killed Friday morning in crash
  • Crash happened at 6:20 a.m. on US 27
  • Teens were students at Frostproof High
  • Traffic resources

According to the Polk County Sheriff's Office, Jorge Lara was driving a Jeep Liberty at 6:20 a.m. with his sister Melanie Lara to Frostproof High, where both were students. 

While attempting to turn onto US Hwy 27 from Princeton Avenue, the jeep was struck by a Chevrolet Silverado 1500 pickup truck heading southbound. 

Both of the teenagers were killed. 

The crash happened a few doors down from their house. Many of the people living on Princeton Avenue were in shock.

“Just looking at what happened to those two kids, it just makes me without a shadow of a doubt know that every day is precious,“ said Antonio Tirado, their next door neighbor.

Tirado called the siblings "good kids."

“They were very much in their faith, every Saturday, we’d always see them go to church,“ Tirado said.
 
He said Jorge also liked to work on cars with his father. Tirado said the siblings also had a younger sister.

At Frostproof High, Jorge was a senior and Melanie was a sophomore. Students there called him "George." They said it was difficult to get through the school day.

“They were both good people," said student Javier Aguilar. "They shouldn’t have went today. They had a whole life in front of them.”

“Everybody was like crying, running to the guidance counselors and everything,” said Joyce Rogers, another student.

“It was very depressing," said Hannah Gilmore, an 11th grader. "Like everybody is going to miss him. He made everybody happy."

Three men in the truck from Bartow and Winter Haven were transported to area hospitals, but are expected to survive.

The occupants of the truck were identified as Jose Vazquez-Rivera, 23, of Bartow. He was the driver; Francisco Herrera, 23, of Wahneta; and Luis Lazos-Gomez, 32.

The crash remains under investigation. Authorities said the occupants of both vehicles were wearing their seat belts.

"There is no indication at this time that excessive speed, impairment, or distraction on anyone's part is a factor," the sheriff's office said in a news release.

Investigators said it appeared that Jorge Lara did not see the oncoming truck before pulling out to cross over the southbound lanes of U.S. 27.

The roadway was closed for several hours Friday morning. 

The Polk County School Board has been notified and grief counselors were at the school this morning. 


While attempting to turn onto US Hwy 27 from Princeton Avenue, the jeep was struck by a Chevrolet Silverado 1500 pickup truck heading southbound. Both of the teenagers were killed.