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Route 59 crash kills Barrington High School student

A Barrington High School freshman died Sunday after the car she was riding in veered into oncoming traffic along Route 59 in South Barrington and collided with an SUV.

The Cook County medical examiner's office Monday identified the girl as Cassandra Meadors, 14, of Barrington. A cause of death is pending.

According to South Barrington police, Cassandra was a passenger in a 2009 Volvo S60 traveling north on Route 59 about 3:10 p.m. when its driver, 27-year-old Dana Cibulka of Chicago, lost control and crossed into the southbound lane north of Penny Road.

Police said the passenger side of the Volvo was struck by a 2006 BMW X5 driven by Carol Saldek, 56, of Crystal Lake.

Cassandra and the two others injured in the collision were taken to St. Alexius Medical Center in Hoffman Estates by the Barrington-Countryside Fire Protection District, with the assistance of the Fox River Grove Fire Protection District. Cassandra was pronounced dead at 3:24 p.m.

An update on the women in the crash was not immediately available.

Barrington High parent Tom Carney said Cassandra was among the girls his daughter, Olivia, met as a freshman this academic year. He remembered Cassandra for the kindness she showed toward his daughter.

"I think my daughter and all her friends are kind of in shock and really can't really wrap their heads around what happened," Carney said. "Until they got to school (Monday) morning, they had no idea what happened. I do know that Cassie was a sweet girl that invited my daughter into a new group of friends who ended up having lunch every day for the last few months."

Carney added his daughter has been bringing his homemade chocolate chip cookies to school every couple weeks for each girl in the freshmen lunch group. She brought the cookies to school Monday.

"They were gutted when they realized one cookie was going to be uneaten," he said.

Samantha Ptashkin, a Barrington Area Unit District 220 spokeswoman, said officials "are providing a full measure of support services to students through our special services and counseling departments" in the wake of Cassandra's death.

It's the second time in less than a year a Barrington High student has died in a crash. In March, 18-year-old senior Rebecca Soderman of Lake Barrington was killed when a car she was riding in struck a tree in Barrington Hills.

Sunday's crash remains under investigation by South Barrington police and the Serious Traffic Accident Reconstruction Team of the Major Crimes Assistance Team. Route 59 was closed between Penny and Bartlett roads for about six hours after the collision, police said.

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