W. Chicago woman dies from injuries
A West Chicago woman died Tuesday morning of injuries sustained in a car versus deer accident Saturday night in Kane County.
Adela Gomez, 25, was struck in the head when the deer came through the windshield, according to Kane County sheriff's police. The impact of the crash split the deer in two.
She was riding in the front passenger seat of a Jeep Cherokee. The accident was at 10:21 p.m. on southbound Route 31 near Elgin Street in St. Charles Township.
Police are still looking for the driver, who ran off after the accident. The other two adult passengers told police they did not know the man's age or address, only his name and that he lived in St. Charles. Lt. Pat Gengler said police aren't even sure if the name and town are correct.
A 19-month-old West Chicago girl in the back seat was injured but not hospitalized. A man in the back seat on the driver's side was treated at Provena St. Joseph Hospital in Elgin, as was Gomez.
An accident reconstruction team is examining evidence to determine how fast the Cherokee was going when it hit the deer.
"The driver is kind of the key," Gengler said.
The vehicle is registered to a resident at 829 Elizabeth St. in West Chicago.
In 2006, there was one fatal deer crash in Illinois. In 2005, there were 11, including one in Kane County.
The county ranked eighth in the state in 2006 for deer-auto crashes, with 510. Cook County was No. 1, with 976.