High school cheerleader's fatal plunge probed
KAANAPALI, Hawaii -- Two men initially arrested on suspicion of murder were released yesterday, two days after a high school cheerleader on a dream trip to Hawaii to perform at a college football all-star game plunged naked to her death from a ninth-floor hotel balcony.
An initial autopsy released yesterday showed alcohol in her system but no evidence of foul play. Police arrested two men Tuesday on suspicion of murder, but released them later that day and said yesterday that Lauren Crossan's death was classed as a "miscellaneous accident."
On a 9-degree morning thousands of miles away, a New Jersey suburb grieved for 18-year-old Crossan as it waited for answers about her death. "I can't even describe how much it hurts," said Erica Bauerlein, a senior from Randolph, N.J., who had known Lauren since both were 3 years old.
Crossan's body was found Monday morning by another guest at the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort & Spa.
The initial autopsy "suggested alcohol was present but we don't have the quantity yet," Dr. Anthony Manoukian, Maui County medical examiner, said yesterday. No other drugs were found, nor was there any evidence of sexual assault or injuries not caused by the fall, he said.
On Tuesday, police in Hawaii arrested two men on suspicion of second-degree murder, said Lieutenant Tivoli Faaumu. Donald L. Devorss, 19, and Erik B. Larson, 20, both of Folsom, Calif., who were registered to the room from which Crossan fell, were released pending an investigation, according to a police records. They had not been charged. Devorss answered a call to his hotel room but said he had no comment.
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 did not know what happened to her, Faaumu said. A chaperone on the trip received a call from Crossan at about 1:30 a.m. Monday saying she was OK and would be returning to her room, Faaumu said. When she did not show up, the others went to look for her, he said.
