The crash included two cars, a van, a bus and two semi trucks. While the weather hasn't officially been ruled the cause, the roads were wet from rain and sleet at the time.
Illinois State Police say an orange and white semi truck jackknifed when a tour bus driven by a Chicago man struck it. The semi was able to straighten out and fled the scene, an ISP news release said.
Then a 1999 beige Pontiac driven by Evonda Jackson, 21, of Chicago, in an attempt to avoid a collision with the tour bus, swerved away and was struck by a 2008 red Sterling TTST semi-truck driven by a Napervillle man. The Pontiac went to the right and the Sterling went to the left, striking the concrete median. A Dodge minivan then slid sideways on its passenger side into the Sterling truck, the release said.
A man and a woman in the van were killed in the crash, Illinois State Police District Chicago Master Sergeant Joseph Stangl said. Another person in the van was hospitalized. The van's driver will face charges, the news release said.
Leanna Cain, 57, was pronounced dead at 12:03 a.m. Friday at John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office. William Ross, 62, was taken to Mercy Hospital and Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 12:35 a.m. Cain may have been Ross's ex-wife.
Evonda Jackson told ABC7 her daughter is not doing well in the hospital.
Four other people sustained non-life threatening injuries, Stangl said.
Neighbors of Cain and Ross in the Austin neighborhood say Cain was a postal worker and had been living in a basement suite since last summer.
"It really stunned me this morning when I heard this. I'm like, no, not her," said neighbor Delores Streety. "She just moved in the basement, OK? But she was a really nice person, a mail lady, kept to herself."
"If anyone has any information on that orange and white truck tractor semi trailer, you're urged to call the Illinois State Police," said Master Sgt. Angelo Mollo, Illinois State Police.
The name of the minivan driver has not been released but state police say they are pursuing alcohol-related charges against that person.
The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.
