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Teenage Boys' Identities Confused after Car Accident

Aired August 7, 2002 - 06:40   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Now time to hear about a horrible case of mistaken identity involving two teenaged boys. One of the kids was killed in a car accident, the other was critically injured, then the mix-up is revealed.
We get details from reporter Amy Wagner of CNN affiliate WLKY in Louisville, Kentucky.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOYCE CRAMPIS (ph), AUNT: And when they tell you that this child's dead, you just don't go oh well, are you sure, let's recheck.

AMY WAGNER, WLKY-TV REPORTER (voice-over): Joyce Crampis (ph) says she had no reason to doubt doctors and officials at University Hospital when they told her her nephew, 16-year-old John Daniel Grubs, had passed away after an accident in Meade County last Wednesday.

CRAMPIS (ph): They did not ask us if this is John Grubs. They told us that that was John Grubs, that he had passed away.

WAGNER: Crampis (ph) says doctors then took her and John Daniel's father to view the teenager.

CRAMPIS (ph): We went back here, we saw this child that had not been cleaned up. OK, we're in shock, we have no idea. We're told it's John Daniels so we're going to take their word for it.

WAGNER: And while the Grubs family began making plans for John's funeral, the family of 15-year-old Jeremy Hylemon spent four days here at University praying over their son who they were told was in critical condition after the accident. But family members say they noticed that the teen in the hospital bed didn't resemble Jeremy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I noticed his nose was bigger than what I remembered it, but they said it was, you know, head trauma because his head had gone through the windshield so.

WAGNER: But it wasn't until Saturday at the open casket funeral of John Grubs that friends and family members realized it wasn't John in the casket but Jeremy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And after the funeral, they put us in a room and they said, you know that may not be John Grubs in there.

WAGNER: The Jefferson County coroner's office confirmed the switch. Grubs' family believes the mix-up may have begun at the site of the accident when investigators declared that John Grubs was the driver.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The injuries that were received on my stepson do not coincide him being the driver of the vehicle.

WAGNER: Grubs' stepfather is also a firefighter who often responds to accident scenes. After studying the scene of his stepson's accident, he says he firmly believes that the crumpled car shows that Jeremy Hylemon was driving and John Grubs was the passenger.

But family members say even knowing the truth now doesn't begin to ease the pain they've been through.

CRAMPIS (ph): This is anybody's worst nightmare.

WAGNER: I'm Amy Wagner, WLKY News Channel 32.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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