3 friends die in Dunbar crash

Three lifelong friends died in a violent one-car crash on a narrow, twisting road in the mountains of Fayette County early Saturday morning.

One of the young men who was killed recently returned from Army basic training; a second had steady work and was expecting a bright future; and the third was awaiting the birth of his first child, a daughter.

The 3 a.m. accident on the Dunbar-Ohiopyle Road in Dunbar Township cut in half the car in which the three were riding, state police said.

Police identified the dead as Donald Jolliffe and James Herbert, both 20, and Jason Sines, 19, all of Dunbar Borough.

Sines' aunt, Linda Sines Bowers, said her nephew had "a daughter on the way" with his fiancee Athena Carraway. The couple lived with the young man's mother, Bowers said.

"He was looking forward to being a father," Bowers said. "I think he would have been a great father."

The baby is due within several weeks, Bowers said.

Police were trying to determine who was driving the car, a red Ford Mustang, which relatives said Jolliffe purchased Friday.

Police believe the car was traveling at a high rate of speed when it failed to negotiate a right-hand turn, went through a guardrail and struck several trees before breaking apart.

Herbert's cousin, Bill Dye, said relatives believe Jolliffe, who graduated from Army basic training May 4, picked up Sines and Herbert around midnight for a ride in the car. Sines and Herbert worked the same 3-to-11 p.m. shift for a company that was doing repair work at the Hatfield Power Plant in Greene County, relatives said.

Herbert was known as "LB," for Little Billy, after a grandfather, Dye said.

"He was such a polite and respectful person, I can't say enough about him," Dye said. "He had his whole future in front of him."

Ironically, one of Herbert's uncles was killed 23 years ago in a Ford Mustang. "It's a flashback for the family," Dye said. "It's especially hard."

Jolliffe belonged to an Army Reserve unit in Canonsburg, Washington County, said an aunt, Amy Phelan.

"He loved the military," Phelan said. "It changed him. He was very proud of himself for going. He came back more mature. He wanted to do something with his life.

"I'll always remember his giggle," Phelan said. "He kind of giggled when he laughed. He was happy-go-lucky."

Police said the three were pronounced dead at the scene of the crash. Fayette County Coroner Phillip Reilly said blood samples taken from the three were awaiting analysis. Autopsies would not be performed, he said.

Police said the investigation is continuing.