Police seek two from fatal tollway crash
Police are looking for two people who fled the scene of a Friday-night crash on I-90 near Route 31 that killed a 5-year-old boy and a woman who had been riding in the same vehicle with them.
One of those who fled is the driver of the ill-fated 2003 Ford Expedition. Another was a passenger in the vehicle.
A photo has been released showing the license plate of the vehicle. It is an Illinois plate bearing the number X14 5522, registered to a Chicago resident.
More Coverage Links Driver flees fatal crash
Illinois State Police Master Sgt. Pete Howe said investigators are trying to confirm the identities of the people who fled.
A police report is currently unavailable.
In addition to the two passengers who were killed, three others in the vehicle were injured, including a 6-year-old who is listed in critical condition.
About 8:45 p.m., a Lincoln Town Car driven by Kevin Cooke of Carpentersville was cut off by a white van in the far left eastbound lane of I-90.
Cooke told the Daily Herald Saturday that he tried to avoid hitting other cars and swerved the Lincoln onto the shoulder of the tollway. But Cooke said the shoulder's soft dirt surface made the Lincoln slide sideways and he hit the rear of the 2003 Ford Expedition.
The Expedition, he said, swerved back and forth, then violently turned sideways and flipped, rolling over several times and sending children in the vehicle out the side window.
Two of the seven passengers in the Expedition, 5-year-old Luis Cabrales of Elgin, and 57-year-old Maria Guadarrama of Mexico, were pronounced dead at Sherman Hospital in Elgin.
Three injured passengers from the Expedition were taken to Sherman Hospital. Later, one of the passengers, a 6-year-old, was taken by air to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in critical condition, according to state police.
Police were unable to track down the white van that cut off the Lincoln Town Car.
Cooke, the driver of the Lincoln Town Car, was unhurt. On Sunday, he said he was advised by his employer not to make further comment on the accident, but he did praise responders for arriving quickly.
"A lot of people stopped to help," he said. He particularly praised the Elgin Fire Department and Illinois State Police. "They were all there within five minutes. They were remarkably quick and thorough. They really took control of the situation."