Baleigh Bowlin and Chloe Taylor, both 16 years old, were found strapped inside of the flipped car near Mississippi 613 and Lum-Reeves Road.
The intersection is just a few files away from Hurley where both girls lived.
Family — including Baleigh’s parents — and friends formed a search party to find the best friends on Sunday after they didn’t come home after attending the homecoming dance. An uncle would find the car hidden in the woods, Jackson County Coroner Bruce Lynd Jr. told the Sun Herald.
Baleigh and Chloe were inseparable and did everything together, Chloe’s mother said.
“They were best friends,” Chloe Taylor’s mother, Natalie Mann-Taylor said to the Sun Herald. “Glued to the hip. They loved each other and were always there for one another Baleigh and Chloe were the definitions of high-quality friends.”
The family members of Baleigh Bowlin and Chloe Taylor gather around a memorial for the girls at the site of a fatal car accident that claimed the lives of both girls off of Highway 613 in Hurley on Monday, Oct. 17, 2022. Hannah Ruhoff
A memorial is set up for Baleigh Bowlin and Chloe Taylor, who were killed in a car accident, at the site of the accident off of Highway 613 in Hurley on Monday, Oct. 17, 2022. Family members found the photo of Chloe’s cousin Beckett, whom she babysat everyday, and stuffed frog among the debris left from the accident. Hannah Ruhoff
Friends and family of both girls gathered to adorn the place where the vehicle left the roadway with a colorful tribute to the Baleigh and Chloe. Vases of purple and blue florals were placed near a wooden cross adorned with a stuffed frog and wildflowers.
Crime scene tape and debris still covered part of the crash scene. A stop sign was likely taken out by the car and was found behind a wooden fence in the woods nearby.
A piece of a Nissan vehicle that Chloe Taylor was driving at the site of a single vehicle car accident that killed two East Central High School Students, Baleigh Bowlin and Chloe Taylor, off of Highway 613 in Hurley on Monday, Oct. 17, 2022. Hannah Ruhoff
The parents of Baleigh Bowlin hug at the site of a fatal car accident that claimed the lives of their daughter and her best friend, Chloe Taylor, off of Highway 613 in Hurley on Monday, Oct. 17, 2022. Hannah Ruhoff
Carol Rouse, grandmother of Baleigh, was at the memorial site grieving the loss of her grandchild.
Baleigh’s aunt, Lisa Vess, was killed Jan. 2019 in a car accident and Vess and Bailey were close and even looked similar, Rouse said.
“They lit up our whole family and they’re just gone,” Rouse said.
Funeral arrangements for Baleigh and Chloe were being set this week.
Sun Herald reporter Margaret Baker contributed to this report.
Friends and family of Baleigh Bowlin and Chloe Taylor gather around a memorial for the girls at the site of a fatal car accident that claimed the lives of both girls off of Highway 613 in Hurley on Monday, Oct. 17, 2022. Hannah Ruhoff
Baleigh Bowlin’s mother hugs a family member as they sit near the site of a car crash that killed her daughter off of Highway 613 in Hurley on Monday, Oct. 17, 2022. Baleigh Bowlin and Chloe Taylor were driving together after the East Central High School homecoming dance when their car went off the road. Hannah Ruhoff
The family members of Baleigh Bowlin and Chloe Taylor set up a cross memorial for the girls at the site of a fatal car accident that claimed the lives of both girls off of Highway 613 in Hurley on Monday, Oct. 17, 2022. Hannah Ruhoff
The family members of Baleigh Bowlin and Chloe Taylor put flowers into a memorial for the girls at the site of a fatal car accident that claimed the lives of both girls off of Highway 613 in Hurley on Monday, Oct. 17, 2022. Hannah Ruhoff
The friends and cousins of Baleigh Bowlin and Chloe Taylor put flowers at a memorial for the girls at the site of a fatal car accident that claimed the lives of both girls off of Highway 613 in Hurley on Monday, Oct. 17, 2022. Hannah Ruhoff
A photo of Baleigh Bowlin and Chloe Taylor sits on a memorial for the girls at the site of a fatal car accident that claimed the lives of both girls off of Highway 613 in Hurley on Monday, Oct. 17, 2022. Hannah Ruhoff
The family members of Baleigh Bowlin and Chloe Taylor gather around a memorial for the girls at the site of a fatal car accident that claimed the lives of both girls off of Highway 613 in Hurley on Monday, Oct. 17, 2022. Hannah Ruhoff
Chloe Taylor’s mother walks away from a memorial for her daughter and her daughter’s best friend, Baleigh Bowlin, at the site of a fatal car accident that claimed the lives of both girls off of Highway 613 in Hurley on Monday, Oct. 17, 2022. Hannah Ruhoff
A friend whose daughter attended school with Baleigh Bowlin and Chloe Taylor with hugs the grandmother of one of the girls outside the site of where a car accident resulted in the death of both girls on Highway 613 in Hurley on Monday, Oct. 17, 2022. Hannah Ruhoff
This story was originally published October 17, 2022 at 4:02 PM.
