GoFundMe started for 19-year-old killed in Christmas Eve crash

A family friend has started a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for the family of one of two young men killed in a crash in Ridley Township, Pennsylvania, on Christmas Eve. 

Nineteen-year-old Alexander Gray and 18-year-old Christian Bauerle, both from the Wilmington area, were pronounced dead at the scene after their car spun out of control, struck a utility pole and split in two. 

2 Wilmington men killed in violent crash near Philadelphia

Capt. Scott Willoughby, of the Ridley Township Police Department, said the vehicle was traveling an estimated 60 to 70 miles per hour, twice the posted speed limit. 

"A little after 1 a.m. on Christmas Eve, the world lost a beautiful soul," said a GoFundMe page set up for Gray's family. 

Gray left behind his mom Dodie, father Jim and brother Ryan, the page says. The money will be used to help pay for funeral expenses. 

Donate online at gofundme.com/alexander-gray-memorial-fund. 

"Alex, you were a beautiful soul who left us way too soon," the GoFundMe page says. "They say 'only the good die young' and this world has lost one of the best." 

Gray, a graduate of Delaware Military Academy, was in his freshman year at West Virginia University. He planned on studying sports and adventure media and was an Eagle Scout, according to The Dialog, the Diocese of Wilmington's newspaper.

On Twitter, one friend hailed him as "single handily one of the most selfless, carefree, and most amazing" people she had ever known. 

Another friend praised his musical talent and posted a video of him playing with the Delaware punk rock band Off Campus in 2016, for which Gray appears to have been the drummer. 

Bauerle went to John Dickinson High School from 2014 to 2018, according to his Facebook profile. His 20th birthday would have been on Christmas. 

Instead of presents, he was asking for donations to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. His goal was $200. 

Bauerle's son, Noah, was born on June 17, 2017, according to the young father's Instagram page. His social media accounts are also a testament to his father, who died in 2012, and his mom, who died earlier this year. 

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Contact Jessica Bies at (302) 324-2881 or jbies@delawareonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @jessicajbies.