Driver flees tollway crash that killed two of his passengers

An Elgin boy and a woman from Mexico were killed late Friday in an I-90 crash in Elgin, state police said.

The driver of the boy's vehicle and a male passenger fled the scene near Route 31, leaving four injured children on the road behind them, police said.

Luis Cabrales, 5, of Elgin, and Maria Guadarrama, 57, of Mexico, were pronounced dead at Sherman Hospital after their 2003 Ford Expedition rolled over several times.

The accident began about 8:45 p.m., when a Lincoln Town Car driven by a Carpentersville man was cut off by a white van in the far left eastbound lane of I-90.

Kevin Cooke said he tried to avoid hitting other cars, and swerved his Lincoln onto the shoulder of the tollway.

The soft dirt surface made the Lincoln slide sideways, Cooke said, and he hit the rear of the Expedition.

Cooke's car "did a complete spin - I ended up in the entrance lane on Route 31 for the tollway," he said.

The Expedition, he said, swerved back and forth, then violently turned sideways and flipped, rolling over several times.

"On the first flip, all the kids flew out of the side window and were on the road," Cooke said.

"There were no car seats -they were just lying on the ground," he said.

The Expedition rolled over several more times before it landed upright.

"I got out of my car and did everything I could to stop traffic, cause those kids were in the middle of the road," Cooke said.

A number of other passers-by, including an off-duty Elgin paramedic, helped the injured, Cooke said.

In the Expedition had been seven occupants, including the two victims, police said. Their names were not released.

Police used dogs to search for the two men who fled but did not find them.

All five people injured in the Expedition were taken to Sherman Hospital, Elgin Fire Capt. Tim Maroder said.

Sherman Hospital declined comment Saturday.

The eastbound lanes of I-90 were closed for about two hours, police said.

State police say they are looking for leads, such as the model and plate number of the white van. Police on Saturday afternoon had not yet issued a warrant for the driver of the Expedition.