OIB ANNIVERSARY: Florence student’s family speaks out on tragedy

A Florence student was among the six University of South Carolina students who died in the Ocean Isle Beach vacation house fire Sunday morning.

Anna Lee Rhea of Florence told The Associated Press her older brother, William, was among the dead — a devastating blow to their older brother, Andrew, who made it out of the house alive.

“Everybody loved him. Everybody really misses him,” she said in a brief telephone interview. “You couldn’t help but love him.”

Rhea was one of the seven students who didn’t make it out of the Ocean Isle Beach home early Sunday morning when flames engulfed it. He was a freshman at the University of South Carolina in Columbia.

Andrew Rhea, a sophomore at USC, made it out of the blaze, was treated for injuries and released from a hospital.

The Rheas’ father, Dr. Andrew Rhea of Florence, issued a statement Monday afternoon through a family friend, Mark Buyck III, a Florence attorney.

“The Rhea family wishes to express their sincere gratitude for the heartfelt symphathies of family and friends. They have experienced a personal tragedy and are dealing with their grief as a family,” the statement reads. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Rheas and to the parents and friends and family of the other young people involved in this horrible event. The family requests that their privacy be respected as they grieve the loss of William.”

Home’s owner speaks

Chip Auman, whose family owns the beach house and whose 18-year-old daughter, Katherine, a USC student, was injured in the fire, said during a press conference Monday that his family was “numb, confused and heartbroken.”

“I want to thank all of those who helped us during this tragic time. ... There are just no words to describe what we’ve been going through for the last 36 hours,” Auman said while speaking to reporters at Carolina Pines Regional Medical Center in Hartsville on Monday night. “Yesterday morning, when my daughter called us, our lives have just changed forever. We have experienced a phone call that no parent can imagine. It’s a situation that’s just hard to fathom at this point in time.

“This is simply a tragedy. The thought of losing a child is just unimaginable to me. As a father, my heart goes out to the families that have lost a loved one in this situation. Although we’re going to try to make sense of this, there’s just no way to do it in the days ahead of us. We are grateful for the sympathy and support that our friends and family have continued to give us. We’re so thankful for all of the expressions of love and concern from all over the place.”

Katherine Auman, who graduated from Mayo High School for Math, Science and Technology in Darlington, was admitted to Carolina Pines on Monday because of complications from smoke inhalation.

“She’s currently in the intensive care unit. She is dealing with complications from smoke inhalation,” Chip Auman said. “Her condition right now is stable and hopefully will be improving in the days to come.

“Like all families and friends that are involved in this situation, we’re just waiting to learn more about what took place yesterday morning. In the meantime, we ask you to join us in praying for the families that are in mourning and those that have lost a loved one, those that were injured in this very tragic event. Our hearts and souls just reach out to those folks at this point in time. I thank you all for coming here today and allowing our family to express our sympathy and concern for all of the victims of this tragic incident.”

Chip Auman, a Hartsville attorney, was joined at the press conference by his sister, Lib Foster, his son, Coleman Auman, and his pastor, the Rev. Tony Medlin, minister at St. Luke United Methodist Church in Hartsville.

Dr. Robert Veto, the headmaster at Trinity Collegiate School in Darlington, said the Rhea brothers, such as their sister, are Trinity graduates. Andrew graduated in 2006, and William, following in his brother’s footsteps, graduated just last year and headed off to USC.

Anna Lee Rhea said William played basketball and baseball while at Trinity. A member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity at the University of South Carolina, he enjoyed playing golf and was a huge Gamecock fan, she said.

“William was a very lively and athletic young man who I would say was deeply loved by everybody. William was just a great young man,” Veto told the Morning News. “This news has deeply shocked my school community. Trinity students at colleges and university all over the nation have already begun to look to each other for understanding during this difficult time, and we send our prayers out to the Rhea family.”

Meanwhile, neighbors of the Rhea family, such as Virginia McGowan, said they are in shock from the news.

“It’s really difficult to understand something like this happening to that family,” McGowan told the Morning News. “The boys lived two houses down from me and were always very nice. Their mother and father ... they’ve been just really great people the 10 years or so I’ve known them since they moved into this neighborhood.

“Everyone is shocked and distressed and worried about the Rhea family,” Veto said, “and they have the support of the entire school community.”