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Drexel alum and her mother die in plane crash in French Alps

Emily and Yvonne Selke died Tuesday when a Germanwings plane crashed in the French Alps.

Emily Selke: Graduated from Drexel with honors. (FACEBOOK)
Emily Selke: Graduated from Drexel with honors. (FACEBOOK)Read more

LAST NIGHT, people in Philly, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and beyond mourned the deaths of Emily and Yvonne Selke.

The Drexel University alumna and her mother were two of the 150 passengers killed in a plane crash in the French Alps on Tuesday, according to a statement from the Selke family.

The statement described them as "two wonderful, caring, amazing people who meant so much to so many," adding: "At this difficult time, we respectfully ask for privacy and your prayers."

The women, natives of Nokesville, Va., died when the Germanwings airliner crashed en route to Dusseldorf, Germany. Authorities in France were investigating what caused the crash.

Emily, 22, graduated with honors from Drexel's Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design, a spokesman for the university said last night.

The music-industry major worked as a community manager for Carr Workplaces, a firm that offers office space to startup companies in Alexandria, Va., according to her LinkedIn profile.

While at Drexel, Emily was the vice president of Gamma Sigma Sigma's Zeta chapter, according to a post in her honor on the sorority's Facebook page.

"As a person and friend, Emily always put others before herself and cared deeply for all those in her life," the organization said.

She was an avid music fan, and penned concert reviews for The Correspondence, a now-defunct local-music blog, while studying at Drexel.

Her mother, Yvonne, 58, worked at Booz Allen Hamilton, a consulting firm in Tysons Corner, Va., according to Betty Thompson, the firm's executive.

In a written statement, Thompson described her as a "wonderful co-worker and a dedicated employee who spent her career with the firm supporting the mission of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency."