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."

[Ichneumon]

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.

If the girl had made the trip on her own, or her parents trusted her to go on her own and take care of herself, I'd agree with you.

But from the sound of the "chaperone" arrangement, it seems as if someone (parents, college officials, etc.) put an older person in charge to watch over the three girls, and whether the girls were "adults" or not, that person had a responsibility to be, well, responsible for them.

If that's your "job", you should take it seriously and *do* it, not just accept the free trip and then let your charges run wild.

And for all we know the dead girl may have still been living at home with her parents while going to college, and having a chaperone was their requirement for allowing her to go on the trip ("my house, my rules", regardless of how old the offspring is).

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

I'm not sure someone did "kill" her. It may have been some sort of accident on her part (drunken or otherwise).

[Mat_Helm]

I doubt this girl was drunk and would suspect the two men. We don't know the time of death. When did her chaperone consider her missing? Why would she go alone into a room with two stangers? If they druged her and raped her using condems she could have awoke later and was chased or fell off the balcony in a histerical state of mind. This just does not make sense unless they find a massive amount of alcohol in her blood. If they find other drugs in her blood I would go after the two men.

[CdMGuy]

This reminds me of a case in the City of Industry, CA at a Sheraton Hotel. A man and woman from Texas were attending a business meeting at the hotel. Both worked for the same company. He was married, and I do not recall her marital status.

She went over the balcony. He was charged with murder. The case was tried, and he was found Not Guilty. There was no evidence of force having been used. He claimed she leaned back, lost her balance and fell over the railing.

Unless the investigators find some real hard evidence of foul play, these two fellows will be off the hook. It could well be that they all had sex, the guys fell asleep, and she went out onto the balcony, leaned over and lost her balance. Without evidence, only 3 people know what happened, and one of them is dead.

[cherry]

" I don't think this chaperone will have any liability for this girl's death. "

It could be argued that the chaperone was a paid employee who was in charge of HIGH SCHOOL students.....it won't be the age...it will be the status of HS student that will be the ruin for this "chaperone" and whoever she was employed by.....

[Stone Mountain]

How the heck does a 19 and 20 yr old have enough money to party in Hawaii???

Hawaii packages are actually pretty cheap - there are a ton of kids that come over for Spring vacation and other holidays...

[PLMerite]

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

Yeah, it'll be interesting to find out exactly *what* she had in her at the time of her demise.

[dennisw]

The scanty info says to me she jumped or accidently fell all by herself.

[TheDon]

[surrey]

Not too many package deals at the Hyatt. It's probably the priciest on Kaanapali Beach. Could be someone's parent has Hyatt reward points.

[jocon307]

"It's more of a legal question. I don't think this chaperone will have any liability for this girl's death. In fact, there was very little this woman could have legally done to prevent the 18-year old from doing whatever she wanted. The law draws a bright line- at 18, you're free to do pretty much anything you want."

Well, legally re: the chaperone you are likely correct. However, I'm not sure the school or organization is off the hook. It is usual for events like this, esp. ones that require travel, to be controlled by some kind of "permission slip". I've signed plenty that designate the although some participants maybe over the age of majority, they are not exempted from the restrictions imposed on the other participants.

No good to sue anyway.

[Stingray51]

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.

No offense, but can you provide a reference for this statistic? thanks

[eno_]

The scanty info says to me she jumped or accidently fell all by herself.

Evidence of violence is something even the most ham-fisted ME could find: scratches, bruises, paint from a railing or window frame, etc. It is, of course, possible she was heaved out a window and taken completely by surprise, but that would not be the betting man's choice. If she was killed, odds are fairly good there is some physical evidence.

[eno_]

90%+ of all death and injury linked to intoxication is due to alcohol. Odds are, if she was intoxicated and fell accidentally, she was drunk.

[oldironsides]

Keep in mind that Chief Moose and his wife got a nice little settlement from a hotel there . They were asked to see their hotel key and ID by a security staffer at the elevators before they got on to go up to their room. They said they were asked because they were black. The hotel did not disclose how much they paid them.

[yarddog]

From the fact that their stories were inconsistent, my guess is they got her drunk on either drugs or alchohol, had sex with her then got drunk themselves.

She probably did fall accidentally.

[PLMerite]

Yeah, barring criminal intent, I'm sure they'll find some drugs or alcohol in her system.

My veiled reference was more to "Clintonian" evidence of hanky-panky; but good on you for not having a dirty mind like me, or at least the grace to not run with it.

:)

[expatpat]

Cops seem to have caught on to these little scams. Some years back, my elder daughter got into a little problem, which included driving past several cops walking at night. When I got to the station, one of the cops told me he'd jumped out of the way of the car and got his pants muddy.

I asked him if he was OK, and he assured me he was fine. Several months later, he sued us for physical injury. The insurance company paid him, but I was pretty unhappy about policy dishonesty.

Of course, another one lied at my court appearance re a speeding ticket, too......

[ladylib]

I heard on the news tonight the guys were let go.

The principal of her school said she was outgoing and friendly and just popped into his office one day to introduce herself. Perhaps she just popped into the guys' room to introduce herself? Could she have been that outgoing and naive(sp)?

Anyway, everyone at her school is very upset over this. It's a mystery.

[livius]

This is very sad. I live in a college town in Florida, where kids seem to fall off the balconies on a regular basis. Usually the cause is drugs or alcohol.

I made the mistake of letting one of my daughters go to a "Spring Break" at Panama City. She told me that girls were hanging off the balconies, tearing their tops off for the appreciation of the guys in the street below. Pretty depressing.

[af_vet_1981]

It's tragic but it's very probable that these guys didn't kill her.

How did you leap to that conclusion ?

If a naked girl turns up dead in/from the room of two unknown 19-20 year old men why would you not suspect foul play ?