Mom mourns loss of best friends killed in Coast wreck after homecoming. ‘They loved each other.’
The Mississippi Coast community is mourning the loss of two East Central High School juniors who died in a car crash after attending homecoming festivities the night before at East Central High School.
The families of the two girls, Chloe Taylor and Baleigh Bowlin, started searching for them after they didn’t make it home after the dance.
Both girls were 16 years old, juniors and lived in Hurley.
An uncle of one of the girls noticed a stop sign missing on Lum-Reeves Road at the intersection of Highway 613 and stopped to search the wooded area there, Jackson County Coroner Bruce Lynd Jr. said.
The uncle found the girls dead and still buckled into their seats in their overturned car under some brush in the nearby wooded area. He was eventually able to flag someone down on Highway 613 to help him get authorities to the scene.
The coroner pronounced both girls dead at the scene around 5 p.m. Sunday.
Mississippi Highway Patrol Trooper Calvin Robertson said the preliminary investigation indicates the 2016 Nissan Altima Taylor was driving ran off the road, crashed into an embankment and hit a tree.
Chloe Taylor’s mother, Natalie Mann-Taylor, shared a few memories about Chloe and Baleigh with the Sun Herald.
“They were best friends,” Mann-Taylor said. “Glued to the hip. They loved each other and were always there for one another. Bayleigh and Chloe were the definitions of high-quality friends. They both are flying high and will always be in our hearts.”’
Chloe’s mother also shared her profound grief in a Facebook post shortly after learning the news:
“My heart., my world, my best friend was taken from me yesterday,” Mann-Taylor said, among other things. “It doesn’t seem real. I’m praying I wake up from this nightmare and she walks through those doors. Why was my baby taken from me? Why her? I never expected as a parent I would have to go through this much heartache.”
After learning of their deaths, East Central High School officials posted a message for students and residents.
“Please be in prayer today as we mourn the loss of two students,” the East Central High School post said. “Please pray for guidance as we navigate these tragedies with our students., faculty and community.”
East Central High Principal Jim Hughey said extra school counselors and youth pastors were at the school gym Monday morning to offer support for any students who needed help.
“They were outstanding students,“ Hughey said of Baleigh and Chloe. “They were both involved in art. Our community is going to be mourning the loss of them for a while.”
The homecoming dance was on the school’s campus, Hughey said.
Sun Herald reporter Scott Watkins contributed to this report.
This story was originally published October 17, 2022 at 12:25 PM.
