mmg.com.au

The district is in mourning after two residents died in a car accident near Heathcote on Wednesday.

Redcastle’s Rowan Patford, 26, and Heathcote’s Jaymie Luscombe, 30, are remembered fondly by many in the community.

Heathcote’s Mary Dent said Rowan was a ‘‘kind-hearted kid’’.

‘‘He’d do anything for anyone,’’ she said.

‘‘He’d go without to give to others.’’

She remembered him as being ‘‘cheeky’’.

‘‘He always had that sparkle in his eye,’’ she said.

‘‘And he was always extremely well mannered.’’

Jaymie’s former boss at the Toolleen Hotel, Jim Webb, said Jaymie was a fun-loving girl with a nice smile.

‘‘She was a lively person,’’ he said.

Jaymie worked at the pub years ago, before moving away.

She then came back for another two or three-month stint behind the bar about a year ago.

Jim said Jaymie always put her two children first.

‘‘We’ve just been talking about her,’’ he said.

‘‘It’s sort of shocked a lot of people.

‘‘It’s knocked the town around a little bit.’’

Floral and written tributes to the pair had popped up at the accident scene by Thursday morning.

The road was also spray painted with ‘RIP Rowan Patford 6/1/13’ in tribute to a friend taken too soon.

The pair died when the car they were driving in ran off the Northern Hwy and burst into flames after crashing into a tree about 6km north-east of Heathcote around 5pm on Wednesday.

Bendigo Highway Patrol Senior Sergeant Paul Gardiner said police were still investigating the cause of the accident and a report would be prepared for the coroner.