From staff reports

Two teenagers are dead after a two-vehicle crash that occurred Thursday evening in Morgan County.

According to the Ohio State Highway Patrol, Dusty R. Wallace, 19, of Stockport, was killed after a vehicle in which he was a passenger collided with another on Ohio 376 near milepost 8 in Morgan Township on Thursday.

By Friday afternoon, law enforcement reported that Sara L. Riggs, 18, of Crooksville, had died from her injuries after she was transported to Genesis Hospital in Zanesville.

At about 5:20 p.m. Thursday, 16-year-old Athena A. Lowe, of Malta, was driving a 2015 Chevy Cruze northbound on Ohio 376. Riggs was driving a 2006 Hyundai Tiburon southbound down the same road.

Wallace was seated in Riggs’ front passenger seat while Kody A. McGrath, 19, of Malta, was in Riggs’ backseat.

Lowe’s vehicle reportedly traveled left of center and struck Riggs’ vehicle head-on. Riggs’ vehicle slid off the right side of the roadway and struck a guardrail. Wallace was pronounced dead at the scene.

McGrath was transported to a Columbus-based hospital for further treatment and Lowe is expected to make a full recovery. Neither Wallace nor McGrath were wearing seatbelts at the time.

Officials are investigating the cause of the accident at this time, but drugs and alcohol do not appear to be a factor.

The patrol, along with the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office, the M&M Fire Department and MedFlight all responded to the scene.