New bride dies in motorcycle crash on way to reception

BUCKNER, Ill. (AP) - A 40-year-old southern Illinois newlywed is dead after the motorcycle her new husband was operating crashed on the way to the couple's reception.

The (Carbondale) Southern Illinoisan (bit.ly/1Hr1oVk ) reports that Jana Miles-Burnett of Whittington died Saturday night following a wedding ceremony in a Buckner city park. She and husband William Burnett were headed to a reception at a bar in Christopher, a three-mile trip.

Illinois State Police report that Burnett struck a deer that had darted onto the rural highway. Miles-Burnett, whose identity was confirmed to the newspaper by family members and a funeral home, was thrown off the motorcycle after the collision. Her husband was not seriously injured. The couple dated for only a few months before marrying.

Miles-Burnett worked as an emergency dispatcher for Franklin County.