Fatal Kane Co. crash investigation continues
As the family of a Pennsylvania woman killed in a rural Kane County crash makes a sad journey here, police continue to investigate Sunday's two-vehicle accident which killed a 24-year-old Pennsylvania woman and left her 22-year-old Missouri passenger in critical condition.
Janet R. Bauernschmitt, of Kintnersville, Pa., was killed instantly after her Nissan Altima struck a Dodge Nitro sport utility vehicle at Dauberman and Scott roads, just west of Sugar Grove in unincorporated Kane County, police said.
The accident occurred about 9:15 a.m. Sunday. Police said Bauernschmitt was traveling east on Scott Road when she collided with the SUV going south on Dauberman Road.
Bauernschmitt is scheduled to undergo an autopsy Monday, said Kane County Coroner Chuck West. Meanwhile Kane County Sheriff's police continue to investigate the cause of the crash and what brought the two young women to the region, said spokesman Lt. Pat Gengler.
Although there's a stop sign posted for east and west traffic on Scott Road, there aren't any on Dauberman Road, where the speed limit is 55 mph.
"Evidently at this point, it looks like (Bauernschmitt) may have gone through a stop sign," West said.
Three others were injured in Sunday's collision.
Julie A. McQueen, of Fenton, Mo., a passenger in Bauernschmitt's car, was flown to Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove where she remained in critical condition but is expected to make a full recovery, according to a news release.
It was not clear Sunday how the two women know each other.
The SUV driver Alan Kleinstiver, 64, and his wife, Brenda, 68, both of Elburn, were both taken to Mercy Center Hospital in Aurora for nonlife-threatening injuries.
All four people involved in the crash were wearing seat belts, said Lt. Pat Gengler, a spokesman with the Kane County sheriff's department.
Police closed the intersection for nearly five hours during the investigation. So far, no tickets have been issued and it has not been determined what caused the accident.
Fire personnel from Sugar Grove and Big Rock, as well as Kane County's office of emergency management, responded to the crash.
Kane County's Accident Reconstruction Team is assisting in the investigation.
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