June 6, 2000

A family picnic at a quiet park in Provo Canyon turned tragic when two people were killed by a falling tree. The victims are a grandmother, and her six-year-old granddaughter.

News Specialist Stacey Butler has this sad story.

It was an almost unexplainable accident. A tree came down...a family was in it's path.

Two people are dead, five others injured. Now the youngest, a four-year-old, is struggling for her life at Primary Children's Hospital.

The weight of the tree nearly bent the picnic table in half. It's the place where six-year-old Mollie Rose Sorensen and her grandmother, for whom she was named, lost their lives.

Four other family members were injured and taken to local hospitals. They were treated and released. But four-year-old Emma Sorensen is still in critical condition.

Some BYU students picnicing nearby say when the tree fell last night just before 9:00, there was almost no wind. An 80- foot tree crashing to the ground was the last thing they expected to see.

Josh Rolph/BYU Student: "I DIDN'T THINK ANYTHING OF IT. I THOUGHT IT WAS OVER IN THE WOODS. I JUST TOOK OFF RUNNING TO SEE IF I COULD HELP. WE SAW THE SCENE AND JUST TRIED TO GET UNDER THE TREE TO LIFT IT UP."

The Parks and Recreation director says in 25 years he hasn't seen one tree fall.

Roger Thomas/Parks and Recreation Director: "I HAVE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING OF THIS TRAGIC NATURE WHERE A TREE FALLS IN A PARK WHERE THOSE ARE THAT ARE TRYING TO ENJOY A PICNIC."

Stacey Butler/Eyewitness News: "THE TRUNK OF THE TREE IS HEALTHY, THE ROOT SYSTEM STRONG. THERE'S NO FUNGUS--EVEN THE SOIL UNDERNEATH THE TREE IS DRY. EXPERTS SAY THERE'S NO REASONABLE EXPLANATION WHY THIS TREE CAME DOWN."

"WE BROUGHT IN THREE ARBORISTS TO LOOK AT THE TREE, AND AT THIS POINT THERE IS NOTHING TO INDICATE WHAT BROUGHT THIS TREE DOWN."

Today crews are sawing down nearby trees that may pose a threat. While arborists continue to look for clues, the South Fork Park will remain closed.

Meanwhile neighbors of the Sorensen family visit the park to try to make sense of a freak accident that claimed the lives of their friends.

Barris Egbert/Neighbor: "THE LITTLE GIRL WAS JUST A GREAT HAPPY LITTLE GIRL. I HAVE A SON WHO'S HER AGE, SHE COMES OVER AND PLAYS. IT'S JUST TERRIBLE THAT SOMETHING LIKE THIS HAPPENED."

The family was celebrating a birthday at the time the tree fell.