North Pocono High School student killed in one-vehicle crash on Route 307 in Spring Brook

Jun. 10—SPRING BROOK TWP. — A 17-year-old boy from the North Pocono area died early Saturday morning from injuries in a one-vehicle crash on Route 307, Lackawanna County Coroner Tim Rowland said.

Rowland identified the teen as Kaden Rabender.

Family members said Kaden was a student at North Pocono High School who just completed his junior year. They believe he had slept over at a friend's house and was being given a ride home when the crash occurred.

The incident took place at 5:55 a.m., Rowland said.

The vehicle crashed off Route 307 about 289 feet south of Route 690, Pennsylvania State Police in Dunmore said in a press release.

Kaden was a passenger in a Jeep Cherokee that crossed lanes and went off the road and down an embankment, Rowland said. Kaden was thrown from the vehicle and died at the scene from multiple traumatic injuries, Rowland said.

The manner of death is to be determined, but the incident "appears to be accidental," Rowland said.

The Jeep caught fire, but the victim died away from the vehicle and not as a result of the fire, he said.

A male driver suffered what were believed to be non-life-threatening injuries, he said.

The incident remains under investigation by state police, who did not identify the driver.

Later Saturday, grieving family members, friends and classmates visited the scene of the crash. Some placed bouquets of flowers and balloons atop the embankment as memorials to Kaden. One group of friends silently sat and stood atop the steep embankment, peering down the slope at snapped, broken trees that are missing bark where the vehicle apparently struck.

Early Saturday evening, young people could be seen clambering down the steep slope to get to the area where the vehicle ended up in trees and where Kaden died.

The crash occurred on a descent of Route 307, between Interstate 380 and Route 690, where the speed limit is posted at 45 mph.

At the scene Saturday afternoon, Kaden's sister, Ariana Rabender, and his sister-in-law, Alexis Rabender, said they believe the vehicle was northbound on Route 307 on a descent of the highway, when it crossed lanes and careened down the embankment just before a section of guardrails.

They believe the vehicle went airborne as it headed down the embankment, sideswiped some trees and smashed into other trees.

Kaden was ejected from the vehicle and found severely injured a good distance away from the vehicle, they said.

A motorist who saw the vehicle leave the road stopped and clambered on foot down the slope and tried to render aid to Kaden, who at that point apparently was still alive, the two women said.

The witness also used a fire extinguisher to try to put out the vehicle fire, they said.

They did not know the driver but surmised he was a friend of Kaden's.

Kaden was a member of the lacrosse team at North Pocono High School, which held its graduation Friday night. Kaden was looking forward to his senior year of high school with the class of 2024, they said.

"He was very excited for his senior year and going to college," Alexis Rabender said. "He was part of the lacrosse team at North Pocono, very good academically, sports related, amazing humor. And he was one of the kids that talked to everyone. He was friendly with everyone."

"At the end of the day, he didn't deserve any of this," Alexis said.

Contact the writer:

jlockwood@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9100 x5185;

@jlockwoodTT on Twitter.

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