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Seven drown in same lake as Susan Smith's boys
September 1, 1996
Web posted at: 11:20 a.m. EDT
UNION, South Carolina (CNN) -- Seven people, including four children, drowned in John D. Long Lake while visiting a memorial to Susan Smith's children, authorities said Sunday.
The van rolled down the same ramp where Smith sent her car into the water with her boys strapped inside.
Ten people were in the van when they stopped to visit the site. The lights of the van lit up the granite memorial and five people got out to get a closer look, leaving four children and one adult inside the van, said Mike Willis, a spokesman for the state Natural Resources Department.
The van suddenly rolled down the ramp toward the lake as the others looked on, horrified, Willis said. Two adults jumped in to try to save the others, he added.
"It appears that someone in the vehicle had made an attempt to get the children out. They were outside of their seat belts," Willis said.
Three adults and four children, including a 4-month-old, drowned; five of the dead were from one family. The victims' names have yet to be released.
Officials received an emergency call at 9:24 p.m. EDT. Shortly after arriving, police recovered the bodies.
The drownings brought renewed horror and tragedy to the town of Union, population 10,000, which was still recovering from the Smith case. Smith was sentenced in July 1995 to life in prison for killing her only children, 3-year-old Michael and 14-month-old Alex, on October 25, 1994. She will be eligible for parole in 2025.
For nine days that fall, the mother insisted a black man had commandeered her car with her two boys inside. She appeared on national television, tearfully begging for her son's safe return. But on November 3, she confessed to drowning the boys, fueling a national uproar.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Related story:
- CNN's Year in review: The Susan Smith trial - Dec. 28, 1995
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