Home >  Local News >  Neighborhoods

Butler County boys could be victims of hit-run driver

Thursday, July 18, 2002

By Scott Deacle, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

Two 15-year-old boys were found dead from what may have been a hit-and-run accident early yesterday morning on a winding country road in Forward, Butler County.

	Shawn Bauer, left, and his friend, Scott Fosnaught, are shown in this recent family photograph. The boys, both 15, lived on Watters Station Road. Police said they left a friend's house on Cashdollar Road around 1 a.m. Map: Site were the bodies of two boys were found

A passing motorist saw the bodies of Scott Fosnaught and Shawn Bauer near 2 a.m. on Cashdollar Road and called 911, state police said. Emergency personnel pronounced Fosnaught dead at the scene. Bauer was flown by helicopter to Allegheny General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 3:33 a.m.

Based on his injuries, police believe Fosnaught, a 10th-grader at Seneca Valley Intermediate High School, was struck by a vehicle around 1:30 a.m., said state trooper Cheryl Michalski.

There were some questions surrounding Bauer's death last night. The Allegheny County coroner's office said Bauer died of head injuries. That kind of injury is not typical of someone who was struck by a car. The Allegheny County coroner's office said the manner of death was pending an investigation.

No skid marks, broken glass or vehicle parts were found at the scene, Michalski said.

The boys, who lived on nearby Watters Station Road, left a friend's house on Cashdollar Road around 1 a.m., Michalski said.

Fosnaught and Bauer had spent the evening with three or four friends at a nearby pond, according to David and Lucy Macher, whose son Brian was with them at the pond.

After the gathering broke up, Fosnaught and Bauer went to the home of Danny Rice, where they were last seen before they were found on Cashdollar Road, the Machers said. Rice lives on Cashdollar Road.

David Macher said he met Fosnaught and Bauer the day he moved to Watters Station Road six years ago. The two boys became friends with his son and frequently ate and slept at the Macher's house.

Fosnaught and Bauer enjoyed riding dirt bikes, swimming and sitting on the porch and talking, Macher said.

Macher described Fosnaught as quiet, a boy who "wouldn't hurt a fly." Bauer was more outgoing, a ladies' man, Macher said. He had recently given the Machers a trampoline that had been stored at his house.

	Investigators' paint on a winding rural road in Forward in Butler County marks where two teen-agers were found dead early yesterday morning. Authorities found no skid marks, broken glass or vehicle parts at the scene. (Steve Mellon, Post-Gazette)

"He spent more time up here [than at his house]," Macher said.

Bauer was set to enter ninth grade at Seneca Valley Intermediate and would have turned 16 on Monday. Fosnaught would have turned 16 three days later.

Fosnaught recently began driving his mother's car from his house to the Macher's house, Macher said.

"They didn't deserve this," Lucy Macher said.

State police asked people who live on or near Watters Station and Cashdollar roads to look for suspicious vehicles, something Macher vowed to do.

"I'm watching every car that goes by, looking for a bent bumper," he said.

State police encouraged anyone with information about the boys' deaths to call State Police Troop D in Butler at 724-284-8100.

Staff writer Dan Gigler contributed to this report.