SANDPOINT - Local high school students are taking their grief to the Internet after the death of two former classmates.

According to Idaho State Police, sisters Elisabeth Cole, 17, and Rebekah Cole, 16, died in car accident near Weiser on Thursday night.

The Coles were riding with Sloane Weldon, 16, in her 1996 Saturn along with fellow passenger Benson Richardson, 16. Around 11 p.m., Weldon approached the intersection at Anderson Corner and Highway 20 and failed to stop at the stop sign. Parma residents Richard Jordan, 29, Hope Jordan, 25, and two children were traveling south on the highway in a 2008 Dodge 2500 pickup pulling a trailer containing four horses. Jordan was unable to stop in time and T-boned the driver's side of Weldon's vehicle.

The impact drove Weldon's car 80 yards south of the intersection. ISP troopers declared Elisabeth and Rebekah Cole and Weldon dead at the scene. Emergency personnel airlifted Richardson to St. Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise, where he remains in critical condition.

Jordan's two children received precautionary treatment and were released. Although the trailer flipped upside down, the four horses weren't seriously hurt.

The Coles had finished up the school year at Sandpoint High School and had recently moved to Weiser. Many of their classmates reacted to the news of their death Friday morning with shock and disbelief.

Friends have flooded the girls' Facebook profiles with posts expressing sorrow and sharing memories. Classmates have also created a Facebook community page memorializing the girls. According to SHS Principal Becky Meyer, the students are using different language of mourning to which many adults are unfamiliar.

"I think that in some cases, this generation is processing their feelings more and more online," she said.

At this early stage, the school district administrators are still discussing the possibility of a more formal memorial with staff members and religious leaders of the girls' former LDS congregation.

"We're still kind of waiting to see what reaction the students are having," Meyer said.

However, staff have reported that if the kids feel the need for an organized candlelight vigil or counseling services, they'll make it happen.

"Two of our four counselors have called and said they were willing to facilitate something if the students want to gather," Meyer said.

Students who want to help organize or attend a memorial service should email Meyer at [email protected].