A teenage boy found unconscious in a vehicle last week died of his injuries on Christmas Day, his family has confirmed.
Gage Bogart, 17, was found in the driver’s seat of a 2001 Volkswagen Jetta around 3:30 am on December 21, police said. Shaina Ridenour, 16, was found dead in the passenger seat of the idling car.
Bogart was airlifted to the Misericordia hospital in Edmonton where he spent the weekend in a coma.
Family said Bogart was pronounced dead Christmas night.
Posts flooded social media Tuesday to support the family Bogart left behind.
“I don’t have words to describe what I’m feeling right now,” Bogart’s friend Rhett Kelln wrote on Facebook Tuesday afternoon. “Rest easy … there’s no words to explain how much you guys will be missed.”
Bogart’s immediate family has asked for privacy during this time.
‘Christmas is never going to be the same for them’
Shelly Cloke, the principal of Frank Maddock High School where Bogart attended, made an emotional statement about her former student to media gathered in Drayton Valley last week.
“Words can’t do justice for how our school body is feeling right now,” Cloke said. “I know our school and community will support everyone and help each other get through this terrible time.”
The words were echoed by Drayton Valley Mayor Michael Doerkson, who also spoke to reporters about the incident last week.
“Our town motto is pull together, and that’s what we do in a situation like this,” he said. “Christmas is never going to be the same for them and so it’s a very, very sad story.”
RCMP Cpl. Chris Warren told CBC News that what happened to Ridenour and Bogart was a “very tragic” accident.
“There’s nothing in the investigation that would suggest that there’s intent on any of the parties, or anyone else involved, in what happened and the end result,” Warren said on Friday.
Cloke said support staff will be on hand to assist students with their grief when the school year starts up again after the holiday season.
The car is scheduled to undergo a mechanical inspection on Dec. 27, which police hope will give the families some answers in the deaths of Ridenour and Bogart.