Funeral held for N.J. cheerleader
By Steve Strunsky
Associated Press
RANDOLPH, N.J. — More than 500 mourners gathered at Resurrection Parish Roman Catholic church on a sunny morning for the funeral of Lauren Crossan, the 18-year-old Randolph High School cheerleader found dead on the grounds of a Maui hotel a week ago.
Crossan, who had been selected to participate in college football's Hula Bowl festivities Saturday, was remembered yesterday as a popular, cheerful, strong-willed individualist by friends and family.
In readings from Scripture, the Rev. John Andrew Connell tried to soothe mourners' anguish.
"Why do bad things happen to good people?" said Connell, pastor of the church. "Why is life at times so unfair? There are no definitive answers."
Connell said death was but a walk through a shadow, assuring mourners that Crossan was now beginning "a new way of living."
Clusters of friends tried to express their shock at Crossan's mysterious death thousands of miles away.
"It's weird just talking about it," said Will Mravlag, 18, a senior classmate at Randolph High School, just down the road from the church. "It's hard to believe. She was so excited about it. That's all she talked about in English class."
Crossan died early Jan. 12 in an 80-foot fall at the oceanside Hyatt Regency Maui Resort & Spa.
Her parents have hired Maui attorney James Krueger to conduct an independent investigation.
"Our involvement is to investigate along with the police as to what really happened," Krueger said. "We don't have anything now that is persuasive in solving the issue."
Police classified the death as an accident, but are continuing to investigate. They have not ruled out any possibilities, including homicide or suicide.
"There's a lot of mystery to it that's the challenge to all of us," acting Lt. Tivoli Faaumu has said. "Nobody heard or saw anything."
Crossan fell from a ninth-floor room, registered to two Folsom, Calif., men she met at the hotel shortly after arriving on the island Jan. 11, police said.
Police said Crossan went to the room of Erik Larson, 20, and Donald Devorss, 19, sometime that night. Her nude body was found the next morning. Her clothes were found in the men's hotel room.
A preliminary autopsy showed evidence of alcohol in Crossan's system, but no alcohol containers or any other drugs were found in the room from which she fell.
Devorss and Larson were arrested and questioned but released without being charged. They reported falling asleep and not knowing Crossan's whereabouts when they woke up, police said.
Faaumu said there are no apparent signs of foul play, no signs of a struggle, or any evidence of sexual abuse or contact. All the injuries were consistent with a fall.
Honolulu private investigator Steve Lane, who was hired by Krueger to assist in the case, said he has not found any evidence of sexual activity or abuse.
Lane said he is focusing on finding out Crossan's movements, including who she was with from the time she arrived on Maui at 4:45 p.m. on Jan. 11 to 1:34 a.m. on Jan. 12, when she was last heard from.
Crossan was on Maui, along with about 500 other youth cheerleaders, to participate in a halftime show at the Hula Bowl.
