A 22-year-old Illinois man has been arrested after allegedly trying to pass multiple vehicles and triggering a devastating head-on crash that killed three members of an Iowa family, including a 4-year-old girl.
Carson Rehkopf of Sugar Grove is charged with six counts of aggravated DUI involving death, two counts of aggravated DUI involving great bodily harm and several traffic offenses, according to WIFR.
The deadly four-vehicle collision happened at approximately 9:15 p.m. Friday, July 31, on Illinois Route 71 near Walker Road in Fox Township, close to the village of Millbrook.
Illinois State Police said Rehkopf was driving a pickup truck south when he moved into the northbound lanes to pass several vehicles.
Investigators allege the pickup then slammed head-on into an SUV, setting off a chain-reaction crash involving two additional vehicles.
Five people were taken to hospitals following the violent collision. Three victims from Des Moines, Iowa, died.
The victims were identified as Amy Lee Witter, 38; James Witter, 65; and a 4-year-old girl whose name was not publicly released.
Amy was pronounced dead at the crash scene by Kendall County coroner’s deputies.
James was rushed to Rush Copley Medical Center in Aurora, where he later died. The little girl was taken to Northwestern Medicine Valley West Hospital in Sandwich but could not be saved.
Authorities have not publicly clarified the relationships among the three victims. Some local reports described the adults as the child’s parents, while official statements identified them only as three people from Des Moines.
The SUV reportedly carried four people. Three died, while another occupant was hospitalized with injuries. Rehkopf was also hurt in the crash.
The conditions of the two surviving victims have not been disclosed.
Officials from the Kendall, Kane and DeKalb County coroner’s offices were called to assist at approximately 11 p.m. Friday. Forensic autopsies were scheduled for Sunday to determine the official causes and manners of death, but the results had not been publicly released as of Monday.
The collision forced authorities to close Illinois Route 71 near Walker Road for nearly eight hours. The highway reopened shortly after 5 a.m. Saturday.
Rehkopf was arrested Sunday, Aug. 2, and booked into the Kendall County Jail. The charges are allegations, and he is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
The tragedy was the second deadly head-on crash in Kendall County that week involving a driver allegedly attempting to pass another vehicle.
Two days earlier, 49-year-old Daniel Hoffmann of Earlville was killed after authorities said he attempted to pass a vehicle on Galena Road in Little Rock Township and collided with an oncoming car. A woman and children in the other vehicle were injured.
The Route 71 crash remains under investigation by Illinois State Police and the coroner’s offices in Kendall, Kane and DeKalb counties.
