Speaking from her hospital bed, Marley Barclay told her parents what she believes caused the car she was riding in to collide with a tree Friday in Woodacre. The crash left four high school girls dead, and Marley and one other girl with serious injuries.
According to her parents, Jessica Glantz and Ross Barclay, Marley said an oncoming car crossed into the lane the girls’ car was in, forcing the driver to swerve to avoid it. Law enforcement has not released an official account of what happened before the crash.
Glantz revealed her daughter’s account at a press conference Monday outside the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital in Oakland, where Marley is being treated.
“What Marley does remember of the moments before the accident is that they were going around a blind turn, and another car veered into their lane,” Glantz said. “The driver of the vehicle that Marley was riding in swerved to miss the other. She remembers hearing her screaming, and then she swerved.”
Glantz also said they have seen no evidence that alcohol was involved.
Marley’s family made a public appeal to find the woman who pulled the teen from the vehicle.
“All Marley can say is that a woman saved her life,” Glantz said, adding that she believes she has identified the rescuer through Facebook.
“My daughter called me right after the accident,” Glantz said. “She called me screaming, and I couldn’t understand what she was saying. A wonderful woman took the phone and spoke for her, and said she called 911.”
She added that the woman told her to go straight to the hospital.
“She assured me she was going to hold my daughter’s hand and stay there with her until she got help,” Glantz said. She then addressed the woman, saying, “I don’t know you, and I love you. And I thank you.”
When asked about the woman’s actions, Glantz said Marley told them she was the only one who was conscious in the car and was pounding on the window, screaming, until the woman found them.
That Good Samaritan was identified as Gayle Gregory, who told KTVU that she was returning from a hike when she found the car and comforted Marley. There were several people trying to get the teens out of the wreck, she said.
“Very loudly, I basically just started telling everyone what to do,” Gregory told KTVU on Monday. “I stayed until the ambulance came.”
All six crash victims were students at Archie Williams High School in San Anselmo. Three were pronounced dead at the scene, and another died shortly afterward. All were age 14 to 16.
Principal Jacob Gran of Archie Williams High School identified the deceased as Olive Koren, Josalynn Osborn, Sienna Katz, and Ada Kepley. In an email to students, Gran wrote that Marley and Elsa Laremont Stranczek survived the crash.
Dozens of bouquets, Red Bulls, Takis, cigarettes, balloons, candles, and stuffed animals were left next to redwood trees at the scene of the crash Monday. Cars slowed as they passed by. One driver held back tears. Another had their hands in prayer. Five young girls stood by the trees in silence for minutes on end.
Online fundraisers for Olive, Josalynn, Sienna, Ada, and Marley had collectively raised more than $300,000 as of Monday; those for Marley and Josalynn raised more than $100,000 each. The GoFundMe pages carry messages of shock, heartbreak, and support from friends of the families.
The Volkswagen SUV carrying the teens was traveling westbound on St. Francis Drake Boulevard when it collided with a tree on the shoulder of San Geronimo Valley Drive in Woodacre at around 7:30 p.m. Friday, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Anyone with information can contact the CHP’s Marin office at (415) 924-1100.