Tornado Kills One, Injures Two at Girls’ Camp

A twelve-year-old Beehive girl was killed on July 10 at a stake girls’ camp in Connecticut when a tree knocked over by a tornado fell across the tent in which she was staying. Her sister and another girl who was in the tent are currently being treated for their injuries.

Jennifer Bike of the Trumbull Third Ward, New Haven Connecticut Stake, died instantly. Melanie Bike, sixteen, suffered a broken neck and underwent surgery in an effort to relieve the effects of the accident, which left her paralyzed from the neck down. Sarah Sancher, fifteen, is undergoing treatment for a crushed disc.

Stake president A. Sterling Lichfield, Jr., said Sarah’s life was probably spared because the forks of the tree crashed down on each side of her.

Members of the stake have rallied around the families of the girls to offer their sympathy and support.