Police still seek pair who ran from fatal crash
It's been 11 days since a rollover crash on I-90 near Elgin killed two -- one of them a 5-year-old Elgin boy -- and two people who knew the victims started running and never turned back.
State Police Sgt. Jose Mendez said Monday investigators have hope they're close to making arrests.
"You can't count your chickens before they hatch. We have to make sure everything we're looking into is accurate," said Mendez, one of three troopers working the case.
He said it took troopers some time to figure out the true identity of the driver of the 2003 Ford Expedition that rolled over at about 8:45 p.m. May 9, ejecting three children and killing a 67-year-old woman.
All four were passengers in the SUV. The driver, a man in his early 40s, and his girlfriend fled the scene after the crash.
The group was headed from Marengo to Elgin that night after an early Mother's Day celebration.
Luis Cabrales, 5, of Elgin and Maria Guadarrama, 67, of Mexico died from their injuries. Two girls, 3 and 5, were injured; the eldest is still hospitalized, Mendez said.
Mendez said family members knew the driver for 4 to 5 years as an acquaintance named "Martin," but the SUV was registered under a different name.
Investigators brought that information to the secretary of state's office, which showed a driver's license of yet a different name.
Troopers showed the driver's license photo to surviving family members to confirm the newest name, Mendez said.
The driver's girlfriend, believed to be in her mid-20s to early 30s, was known only as "Yoshia."
Mendez declined to reveal the driver's name and could not answer whether he is believed to have fled the country.
He noted the family has fully cooperated with investigators and they, too, are puzzled as to why the two ran away instead of trying to help injured children in the middle of the tollway.
"That was the one question (investigators) brought up to them numerous times. They said they don't know why (the driver) left," Mendez said.
No warrants have been issued for either person, he said.
Leaving the scene of an accident with injuries is a felony that carries a sentence of up to 3 years in prison.
Witnesses said a white van cut off a Lincoln Town Car, which went on to the shoulder and when it came back on the road bumped the SUV, causing it to spin and roll over.
But Mendez said I-Pass images and other cameras on the tollway showed no evidence of a white van.
Although the two people likely fled through Elgin, local police have not been asked to help yet.
"That is the state's case. It's their investigation," said Elgin police spokeswoman Ann Dinges. "We'll assist if they ask."