Two-car crash claims woman

A 19-year-old Fremd High School graduate was killed Saturday after she was involved in a two-vehicle crash in East Dundee, police said.

Katherine Vaudrey, 19, of Inverness was pronounced dead Sunday morning at Sherman Hospital in Elgin, a day after the Ford Taurus she was driving crossed the center line on Route 68 into the path of an oncoming vehicle.

Police said Vaudrey was traveling west on Route 68 -- also known as Barrington Avenue -- east of Vista Lane when her car veered onto the westbound shoulder and then into the eastbound lane.

The vehicle then was struck on the passenger side by an eastbound Mercedes-Benz driven by Mario Rustia, 75, of South Barrington a police report said.

Both drivers were taken to Sherman Hospital after the 3 p.m. accident, which shut down the roadway for about three hours.

Vaudrey was placed on life support, but medical staff did not detect brain activity by Sunday morning. She was pronounced dead about 7:45 a.m.

By Monday afternoon, a special Web page on the social networking site Facebook had been set up in the 2007 Fremd graduate's memory.

Friends posted memories and tributes to Vaudrey, including high school friend Jaclyn McCaffery, who wrote that she always had a big smile on her face.

"If I was ever in a bad mood, she was always right there to make me laugh," McCaffery wrote. "She was an amazing person that touched the lives of everyone she met and she will sincerely be missed."

Rustia was treated for minor facial injuries.

No citations have been issued, and police said the investigation is ongoing.

East Dundee police ask anyone who witnessed the accident to call the department at (847) 428-4034.

• Daily Herald staff reporter Chad Brooks contributed to this report.