SIU names teenagers killed on Highway 6
They started dating last month — a 15-year-old boy from Cambridge and a 16-year-old girl from London.
And they both died in an horrific head-on crash with a transport truck Thursday morning on Highway 6.
Nathan Wehrle was driving a red Pontiac. His girlfriend Taryn Hewitt was in the passenger seat.
Pursuing them were police from Waterloo Region.
It ended when the car, reported to be stolen, crashed into the front of a tractor-trailer on a curve near Freelton.
Ontario’s police watchdog released the names of the teenagers Saturday. The Special Investigations Unit looks into all deaths involving police.
Wehrle was known by everyone in his Cambridge neighbourhood as Nathan Joseph, which is also the name on his Facebook account.
Police say the tragic events of last Thursday started with a 911 call. A young man and woman were reported arguing in car parked in the core area of Preston in Cambridge.
Police say there was a complaint about an assault and possible abduction.
When the Waterloo Regional Police tried to get the car to pull over, the young man — Nathan — kept on driving.
Police say they followed the car from King Street East in Cambridge.
Officers tried to pull over the vehicle, but the driver wouldn’t stop. “A pursuit was initiated.”
Ontario Provincial Police are investigating the crash and the SIU is investigating the role of Waterloo police.
The catastrophic crash left debris from the vehicle all over the road and closed the stretch of Highway 6 nearly all day.
Tinisha Thorne, 16, was on a
family vacation in Dominica when she heard about the death of her longtime friend Nathan, a student at Monsignor Doyle Catholic Secondary School in Cambridge.
“I was in so much shock, I couldn’t believe it,” said Tinisha.
“He was a very sweet and funny guy, he always made someone laugh, he was very outgoing, he always brightened up a room.”
Nathan liked riding BMX bicycles and, like most teenagers, hanging out with his friends.
Tinisha is also friends with the boy’s sister, Chloe. They all grew up together in the same neighbourhood in Cambridge.
Tinisha’s mother ran a daycare, and looked after both Nathan and Chloe. Tinisha stayed in touch with them, and saw Nathan last month, not long after he started dating Taryn.
She remembers playing dolls with Chloe when Nathan walked into the room.
“We would dress him up, put makeup on him, and act like he was our little sister,” said Tinisha. “As we got older I would always go to Tim Hortons with him, and he would always have that joking personality and makes me laugh,” said Tinisha. Assault? Abduction? Tinisha does not believe Nathan assaulted or abducted anyone. “Nathan never showed any anger in that kind of way,” said Tinisha.
Tinisha’s best friend is another 16-year-old girl who was Nathan’s first cousin. The harsh comments on social media about Nathan have the family very upset, said Tinisha.
“I have been talking to her a lot because she is having a rough time,” said Tinisha. “He was just such a sweet boy, and some of the comments are like, rot in hell and stuff like that. It’s very sad, it hurts a lot.”
Tinisha’s mother, Tina, remembers very well the little boy she started caring for when he was four.
“He was a very good kid,” said Tina. “I have nothing bad to say about him.”
Anyone with information is asked to call the SIU investigator at 1-800-787-8529.