Two held in cheerleader's death at Hawaii hotel

Atlanta Journal-Constitution ^ | 1.14.04

[mhking]

KAANAPALI, Hawaii -- Two California men were arrested in the death of an 18-year-old New Jersey cheerleader whose naked body tumbled from the ninth floor balcony of a Maui hotel.

The two men, whose identities were not immediately released, were arrested Tuesday on charges of second-degree murder in the death of Lauren Crossan, of Randolph, N.J., said Lt. Tivoli Faaumu.

Crossan was part of a group from the National Association of American Cheerleaders that was on Maui to participate in Saturday's Hula Bowl college football game. Her body was discovered Monday morning on the grounds of the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort, where she had been staying.

The two men, ages 19 and 20, were registered to the room from which Crossan fell, police said. They were on vacation and not connected to the game or to the cheerleaders' group, Faaumu said.

The men told police that Crossan was in their room when they fell asleep early Monday. Her clothes and personal belongings were still in the room when police arrived to question them, but the men said they didn't know what happened to her, Faaumu said.

"There was some inconsistency in the statements we received from them," Faaumu said. "With all of that, we feel that we have enough probable cause to hold them for questioning at this time."

Crossan had traveled to Maui with two other seniors from Randolph High School and one of the other girl's mothers, who was accompanying them as a chaperone. The three girls had been selected in June by the national organization to perform with nearly 600 other cheerleaders from across the country at the Hula Bowl's halftime show.

The chaperon received a call from Crossan at about 1:30 a.m. Monday saying she was OK and would be returning to her room in the hotel, Faaumu said. When she didn't show up, the others went to look for her but couldn't find her, Faaumu said. A hotel guest spotted her body later that morning.

An autopsy confirmed Crossan died of injuries suffered in the fall, Faaumu said. He said the investigation into her death was continuing.

The girl's school is about 30 miles west of New York City in an affluent area of New Jersey. A message left Wednesday morning with the school district seeking comment was not immediately returned.

Crossan was captain of Randolph High School's cheerleading competition squad. Because of her strength, she was a "base," holding up and catching teammates during performances.

"She never let anyone fall," Nicole Ciolko, former cheerleading team captain, told The Star-Ledger of Newark. "She was just a very strong girl."

[dennisw]

Who knows but it's possible she jumped or fell accidently while hopped up on drugs/booze.

[aegiscg47]

I supervise a staff of students at a university and you would not believe how many take vacations in Spain, fly to Mardi Gras, get new cars, etc... . I think the parents figure that as long as they give them money they won't interrupt their own lives. What a selfish, self-centered society we live in...

[Middle Man]

"The chaperon received a call from Crossan at about 1:30 a.m. Monday saying she was OK and would be returning to her room in the hotel..."

What if she was pressured to make this phone call by her captors? "Tell 'em you're alright and not to worry or you're dead, b*tch!"

[KantianBurke]

If this lady was the type of adult who worried that her actions might result in the loss of her home, she wouldn't have let someone under her care wander unsupervised in the first place.

[yarddog]

I am reminded of how chaperones used to really do their jobs.

We went to the New York Worlds Fair and Washington DC on our Senior trip. The hotel we were in was full of students. We were all hanging out the windows talking to other students when we noticed there were four girls from South Carolina next door to us.

We prompty knocked on their door when this stunningly beautiful girl gives us a tongue lashing and said their chaperones had really gotten on them and they were not going through that again.

We told our chaperone about the beauties next door and he knocked on their door soothed their fears and arranged for us to visit, unfortunately with a chaperone in the room.

[kingu]

Honolulu Star-Bulletin

By Gary T. Kubota
gkubota@starbulletin.com

WAILUKU >> Lauren Crossan worked hard to earn the trip from New Jersey to Maui to perform with 600 other cheerleaders at the halftime of the Hula Bowl.

Crossan, captain of her competitive cheerleading squad, was one of three cheerleaders selected from Randolph High School by the National Cheerleaders Association for the performance, the Newark Star-Ledger reported.

"These girls have been cheerleading for years, and we figured it was a once in a lifetime chance to go to Hawaii so why not let them go," Rocky D'Aconti, the father of another Randolph High cheerleader, told the Star-Ledger. "But as fast as they got there, it turned bad."

The nude body of 18-year-old Crossan, of Randolph, N.J., was found on the grounds of the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort & Spa in Kaanapali on Monday morning.

Two Folsom, Calif., men were being held last night for investigation in the death of Crossan. The men, 19 and 20 years old, were arrested at 2:45 a.m. yesterday but have not been charged, said Maui police acting Lt. Tivoli Faaumu.

"At this time, we're not ruling out anything," Faaumu said.

He said the two men have no connection to the Hula Bowl or the National Cheerleaders Association.

Faaumu said Maui police planned to talk with the county Prosecutor's Office about evidence gathered by detectives, including the partial results of an autopsy yesterday and interviews with the two men.

He said the autopsy showed her injuries were consistent with a fall and police believe she fell from the ninth-story Lahaina tower balcony of a room occupied by the two men.

Faaumu said that the men said they met Crossan for the first time in the hotel after she arrived on Sunday evening.

"From what I gather she met them at the hotel lobby, and she was befriended by one of the persons registered or staying at the room," he said. "They went up to the room."

The men said Crossan was in the room when they went to sleep and when they woke up, they had no idea where she had gone.

A guest looking down from the Lahaina tower found the body, and police were called at 7:46 a.m. Monday.

Crossan's clothes were found in the men's hotel room, and a preliminary examination indicated there was no sign of them being torn, he said.

Faaumu said detectives may have to wait up to two weeks to obtain the results of laboratory tests to determine if there were any drugs or alcohol in Crossan's system or if there are indications of sexual assault.

[weegee]

It's what happens when parents would rather be "friends" than parents. Chalk another one up to the permissive society.

[TheBigB]

Sounds like a Penthouse Forum letter in the making...

"...then all of a sudden, the chaperone took HER top off, and we all..."

[July 4th]

It takes about $1,200 and a winter break from college. Nothing special really. Didn't anyone else here work during high school and save some money?

[weegee]

It would be interesting to hear what the chaperon thought her tasks included. Why not put an 18 year old in charge if "majority" was the only problem?

If they were in competition (regardless of the sport or age), many coaches would have a lights out policy far earlier than 1:30AM.

[weegee]

If that is the case, it didn't buy her (or her captors) much.

[rabidralph]

I wonder how the time of death, as determined by the medical examiner, will relate to the time she made the call to the "chaperone."

[aShepard]

So, she arrives Sunday evening, falls off the balcony nude later that night.

Sure didn't take her long to shed those oppressive clothes!

[RightField]

The two men, ages 19 and 20 . . .

I imagine this 19 year old man would be described as a teenager if he had been the victim.

[expatpat]

Odds are, the hotel has the deepest pockets.

Yes, but it's hard to see how the Hotel could be found negligent -- although these days.....

You are probably right, both will be sued.

[epow]

The chaperon received a call from Crossan at about 1:30 a.m. Monday saying she was OK and would be returning to her room in the hotel, Faaumu said

Chaperone?? What kind of chaperone allows a high school girl in her (or his) charge to stay out until 1:30 AM in a resort city on a sports holiday weekend? I admit I'm an ancient fuddy-duddy who has been "out of it" since the 1950s, but still, even in this day and age the chaperone had a responsibility to the girl's parents to see that she didn't come to harm.

At least the girl will get a decent burial under her own name. Each year 5000 teens and pre-teens in the U.S. are buried in unmarked graves because no one knows who they are or where they came from.

[Modernman]

Not to be too cold about it, but an 18 year-old is a grown-up. The most likely scenario is that she went back and partied with these guys and may have gotten a drunk/high and done whatever else with the two. Then, everyone passed out, she woke up in a daze and stumbled off the balcony.

Tragic, yes. A crime? Maybe, but probably not any type of homicide.

[Dancing Jane]

All of this blaming the chaperone seems a bit much. The girl was 18, legally an adult. Many 18 year-olds live on their own and even have families of their own. I left the country unchaperoned at 17 with a bunch of other 17 year-old girls with the full consent of our parents. We took care of ourselves and stayed out of strange men's hotel rooms.

Where is the anger at the person/people who killed this girl?

[Richard Kimball]

Fall accidents result in different type injuries than self-defense injuries, so a good autopsy should explain a lot.

Yeah, this happens to me every time I have an 18 year old naked cheerleader in my room, too. Just can't keep my eyes open.

When I was a player (many moons ago), you'd be surprised how many gorgeous girls were available at a party after their boyfriends passed out. If any freepers from 30 years ago wonder what happened to your girl after you passed out at a party, she had a GREAT time. Not saying their stories are true, but if a guy gets tanked on Jack Daniels, cocaine and marijuana, he'll pass out with six cheerleaders making passes at him.

Who knows but it's possible she jumped or fell accidentally while hopped up on drugs/booze.

Quite a few years ago, I made an emergency call on a guy who fell off the fifth floor of a hotel. Fortunately, he landed on the roof of a parking garage two doors down, and only suffered minor injuries. He was seriously drunk, not quite at bulletproof stage, though. The window to the room was around five feet off the ground, and approximately 18 inches high and 24 inches wide. According to his own story, he crawled out the window and stood on the ledge to "get a breath of air". So the possibility of her doing something stupid, especially if she was drunk is very high, is there. I see three possibilities, Abducted, raped and murdered, went willingly and party got out of hand and murdered, everybody blitzed and she fell.

The only way to determine what happened will be to check evidence. Were her clothes taken off or torn off? What will the toxicology report on her (and the guys) show? Evidence of defensive injuries? Blood in room or signs of struggle on balcony railing?

One of the things arguing against them being sober and abducting her is that you're taking stupidity to new heights to abduct a girl, rape her, throw her out the window and go to sleep with her clothes still in your room. A guy that's drunk enough could do it, though. Unfortunately, the guys in the room may not know what happened. The evidence indicates that the person responsible for the death (whether her for falling or them for throwing her) was in the blackout stage of drunkenness

[Prodigal Son]

Chaperone?? What kind of chaperone allows a high school girl in her

You know, think about it like this:

If that girl- who was 18- decided, under this chaperone's care to go and join the Army and be sent to Iraq, there would be nothing the chaperone could have done about it. There would be nothing the young lady's parents could do about it.

18 is the age of majority for just about everything besides drinking. She was an adult.