School
prepares to mourn
Counselors available.
Investigation continues into wreck that killed teens. Bus
driver not hospitalized.
Monday, February 06, 206 • By ANDREA EILENBERGER
• The Express-Times
PHILLIPSBURG | Phillipsburg High School
lost two members of its family in Saturday's fatal crash in
Lopatcong Township, Superintendent Gordon Pethick said
Sunday.
Charles J. Slack III, 18, graduated from
Phillipsburg High School in 2005, and Amber Lynn Matlock,
15, was a sophomore.
"Phillipsburg High School is a family,
and we look at it from that perspective," Pethick said.
"This is something that hits everybody very
hard."
Pethick and school staff will meet before
school begins this morning to discuss the deaths, he said.
Counselors will be on hand for any students who want to
talk, he said.
"This truly is a tragedy -- no question,"
he said. "My heart goes out to the parents."
The 1994 Eagle Talon the two teens were
in was traveling west on Route 22 just after 4 p.m. when it
crossed the median and collided with a charter bus carrying
the Holy Cross College men's basketball team.
The Warren County Serious Collision
Accident Response Team is investigating the crash that
killed Slack, of Alpha, and Matlock, of Phillipsburg,
according to township police.
Police said they will wait until the
investigation concludes to determine if the afternoon's
heavy rain was a factor in the crash.
The friends were leaving the Phillipsburg
mall before the wreck, according to Kenneth Matlock, Amber
Matlock's father.
The bus driver, Richard Blodgett, 59, of
Spencer, Mass., was treated at Warren Hospital for minor
injuries and released Saturday, according to township
police. None of the bus' passengers was injured, police
said.
Reporter Andrea Eilenberger can be reached at 908-475-8044
or by e-mail at aeilenberger@express-times.com.
© 2006 The Express-Times. Used with
permission.
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