Four-hour search to find driver in Hampshire Township crash

It took hours — and plenty of equipment and personnel — to solve the mystery of who crashed a car into a utility pole early Friday morning on Big Timber Road in Hampshire Township.

Kane County Sheriff's deputies responded to a report of a crash at 1:45 a.m. on Big Timber west of Route 47. They found a 2003 Jeep Cherokee that had been going east on Big Timber, left the road and hit the pole. But the SUV was empty, and police and fire officials couldn't find anyone nearby who'd been in it, according to a sheriff's office news release. Calls to the owner went unanswered.

So they used a thermal imager and a police dog to search the area. Still nothing.

A police helicopter was called to the scene but still was unable to find anyone.

At 5:30 a.m., close to four hours after they started looking, deputies were told that a resident in the 17N200 block of Manning Road had seen someone walking around a nearby church. That's about a mile and a half as the crow flies.

They found Allyson Holze, 24, of the first block of William Drive in Elgin, who said she was the driver, the release said.

She suffered minor injuries and was taken to Sherman Hospital in Elgin. She was checked out and then taken to the Kane County jail on charges of driving under the influence, leaving the scene of an accident and failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident, the release said.