New Jersey Anchor Cara McCollum Dies

By Mark Joyella 

Cara McCollum, the lead news anchor at New Jersey’s SNJ Today, died early Monday of injuries she sustained in a car accident last week. McCollum, who was a former Miss New Jersey, was 24.

McCollum’s family reported the news via Facebook:

Thank you all for this tremendous outpouring of love and support for our Cara. We can’t begin to tell you how much your prayers have meant to us in this incredibly difficult time.

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Cara passed away this morning. Her family was with her in the operating room, and she died peacefully at 4:31am. Before she died, Cara made the selfless decision to donate her organs. At this very moment, she is saving lives.

We’ve prayed constantly for a miracle, and we believe God has answered our prayers. Although it’s not the miracle that we first envisioned, it’s a miracle nonetheless.
In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years. Please accept our sincerest thanks for your heartfelt prayers. We all will miss her now that she’s gone.

SNJ Today reported the news this morning. “Whether you had the privilege of knowing her or if you enjoyed her newscasts during her all too brief time with us, you know that her smile, determination and sincerity made her a beloved individual,” the report reads. “Cara showed warmth to everyone she met. She was a part of our news team family and we are gratified to have worked with her – even for such a short time. We will miss her terribly.”

Philadelphia NBC station WCAU reports McCollum’s boyfriend was Keith Jones, an anchor at the station, and he asked viewers for prayers for her last week, calling her “the light of my life, the greatest thing to ever walk into it, my everything.”

McCollum was critically injured last Monday night, skidding off a road in rainy weather and hitting a tree.

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