Questions follow a son's tragic death

GARY, Indiana (CNN) -- The pain of returning to the scene of their son's death brought Arthur and Samantha Smith to tears, nearly two weeks after police failed to find his body and that of a friend, both thrown from a car in a high-speed crash.

But the Smiths also were angry as they walked Wednesday among glass, auto parts and debris from the single-car crash that killed their son Brandon Smith and his friend Dominique Green, both 18.

According to the Smiths, police did not respond adequately to pleas for help from two teens who survived the crash. Tapes of 911 calls support claims the teens -- both of whom police say had been drinking -- repeatedly asked for help finding their two other friends.

Though police contend they searched for the teenagers, the bodies weren't found until hours after the crash and then not by police, but by Arthur Smith. Brandon Smith's body was within dozens of feet from where the car came to rest, his father said. Green's body was found relatively nearby. Watch father's angry reaction »

"This is their blood. This is the blood of Dominique, and this is the blood of Brandon," Arthur Smith said, pointing to where he found the bodies. "They had been down there that long and didn't nobody look for those boys."

On Thursday, Arthur Smith told CNN that his son and Green might still be alive if police had done their job. "We don't know that because they didn't do their job," he said. Hear the 911 recordings »

"They was right there. I found them, and if I was out there at night, I could have found them with a cigarette lighter. They did not look, they did not look America. They did not attempt to look for them boys."

The two surviving teens, driver Darius Moore and DeAndre Anderson, both 17, were hospitalized with injuries and later released, said Moore's mother, Carmelita Evans.

Police said officers searched the scene for the two missing young men. A medical examiner determined they died instantaneously of blunt-force injuries that were "nonsurvivable," said Jeff Wells, spokesman for the Lake County coroner's office.

But the Smiths said they are unsure of this assessment.

"If they only would have found them," said Samantha Smith, holding onto her husband.

"Only God knows if they were alive or not."

Gary officials asked the Lake County sheriff to conduct an independent investigation of the accident, and Gary police also are investigating. In addition, the Smiths have hired a representative to conduct an independent autopsy on their son's body.

The tragedy began about 1 a.m. (2 a.m. ET) on September 15, when a 1994 Chevrolet Caprice driven by Moore careened out of control, jumping a roadway median, crashing through a guardrail and flipping over and over, ending up on its side in a ravine.

The Smiths said Moore told them a tire blowout caused the crash. Police said initial reports indicate excessive speed was a factor in the crash.

The stretch of road where the accident occurred crosses Interstate 94. It's near a section known as "the Roller Coaster," where drivers have been known to speed, said Gary police spokesman Sam Roberts.

None of the four teens was wearing seatbelts, and all were thrown from the car, according to Moore's mother. Moore managed to walk up to the roadway and tried to flag down a driver, who didn't stop but did call 911, Roberts said.

"He had on a white shirt and was bleeding and was trying to get help," the caller said.

According to radio dispatch recordings released by authorities, police who arrived at the scene were told of the two other passengers.

"He says he had two other guys with him in the car," says an unidentified officer on the recording. "They might still be in the car. You might want to check."

Police contend officers may have believed Brandon Smith and Green had been dropped off before the crash or walked away from the crash scene.

The car flipped about 15 times, according to one of the officers on the dispatch recording.

"If you've seen the vehicle, I don't know how anyone would have walked off," one of the officers says on the recording.

Police said the blood-alcohol levels of the two surviving teens tested at .05 percent and .09 percent, but they would not identify which result was for the driver. The legal alcohol threshold in Indiana for driving is .08 percent. According to Arthur Smith, the four were on their way home from a teens-only club at the time of the accident.

No one has been charged as a result of the accident, and no police officers have been reprimanded, said Roberts, the Gary police spokesman.

Police Chief Thomas Houston publicly offered his "heartfelt condolences and sympathy to the family and loved ones," but the Smiths said he has not reached out to them personally.

"He should resign," Arthur Smith said.

Arthur Smith's brother, Darren, a longtime firefighter and emergency medical technician, went with his brother to the crash scene the morning after the accident.

"When I heard that cry come from my brother's soul, I knew that he'd found his baby," Darren Smith said. E-mail to a friend