A Juno Beach police officer was one of two young women killed early Sunday when the car they were riding in careened off the road in Palm City.

Officer Tiffany Renee Russell of Juno Beach and Lynda Kathryn Kruse of Stuart were ejected from the Mini Cooper when Kruse failed to negotiate a curve near the corner of Southwest Citrus Boulevard and Southwest Martin Highway at about 2:45 a.m. and the car went off the road and began rolling, according to a Florida Highway Patrol release. The stretch of Citrus Boulevard had just recently opened, Lt. Tim Frith said.

Neither woman was wearing a seat belt and both died at the scene, he said. It was not known whether alcohol was a factor.

Russell’s boyfriend, who is also in law enforcement, found the overturned vehicle with Martin County Sheriff’s Office deputies.

Juno Beach Police Chief Dennis Weiner said in a release Sunday that Russell had been with the department for only a year and a half but “had become a valued part of our community, a dedicated officer and great friend to all of us here.”

Funeral services were pending, the statement said.

“She was extremely well-liked in this small community and will be dearly missed,” Weiner said.

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Lynda Kathryn Kruse
Tiffany Renee Russell

- DON JORDAN

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