(TROUTMAN) -- Police said that the car involved in the wreck that killed seven Statesville teenagers was reported stolen hours after the crash.

Statesville Police Lieutenant William Halliburton says a 24-year-old city resident reported the car gone from where he'd parked it Sunday night. Police say it appears whoever stole the car probably was among the victims of Monday's early morning crash.

Mooresville's police chief says one of the dead teens was being investigated for his possible role in a home-invasion robbery in that Iredell County town hours earlier.

Police Chief John Crone says four of the six robbery victims identified Quentin Maurice Reed, 18, as one of the attackers.

North Carolina's transportation department says the crash was the state's deadliest since ten Plymouth High School students died in a wreck in Washington six years ago.

Highway Patrol says video shows pursuit in fatal wreck was proper

(TROUTMAN) -- Authorities say a patrol-car video of the chase that ended in a crash that killed seven teenagers shows a Troutman police officer acted within the law.

The chase was captured on a video camera installed in the pursuing officer's cruiser.

State Highway Patrol Sergeant Everett Clendenin says the officer did nothing that might be considered illegal. The state patrol is leading the investigation into the crash early Monday on U.S. Highway 21 in Iredell County, about 35 miles north of Charlotte.

The victims ranged in age from 13 to 18. John Lindsey Myers, 15, was the driver.

None of the victims had drivers' licenses and none was wearing a seat belt as they rode in a 2001 Dodge Intrepid that was reported stolen.

Clendenin says investigators are looking at how much the wreck was caused by the fleeing car's speed and a spare tire.

The car had a temporary "doughnut" spare tire on the right rear and was traveling at between 80 and 100 miles an hour at the time of the accident.