Posted on Apr 05, 2012

Two teenage girls from Scott died on March 12 after their car rolled over into a creek in Brown County.

According to the Brown County Sheriff’s Department, the accident took place near the intersection of Church Road and Wisconsin 57. The reconstruction of the accident suggests that the vehicle was traveling north on Wisconsin 57. When the driver tried to turn right onto Church Road, the car flipped into a ditch. Both teenagers were trapped inside the vehicle.

Rainy weather conditions appear to have been a factor in the accident. A toxicology report on the driver will be available in ten days, but alcohol and drugs are considered unlikely.

The two girls were pronounced dead at Aurora BayCare Medical Center in Green Bay. Brown County Medical Examiner Al Klimek ruled the deaths to have been accidental drownings.

Paige Derenne was the driver and her friend Gabrielle “Gabi” Fritsche the passenger in the vehicle. They were both aged 16 and sophomores at Green Bay Preble High School. 

Extra counselors have been brought in to Preble to assist the students and staff through this period of tragic loss. Atonement Lutheran Church, across the street from the high school, held a one-hour candlelight prayer vigil for the girls. Around 275 people attended.

A joint funeral is planned for the girls, who had been friends since preschool. The families of the girls arranged to have their organs donated to those in need of transplants.

The Appleton car accident attorneys at Hupy and Abraham offer our deepest condolences to the Derenne and Fritsche families.