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Pair killed in Bureau County crash

Two Bureau County residents were killed in a single-vehicle accident early Sunday morning near Kasbeer.

This story provided by our news partners at the Bureau County Republican. 

KASBEER — Two Bureau County residents were killed in a single-vehicle accident early Sunday morning near Kasbeer.

On Monday, Bureau County Coroner Janice Wamhoff said she pronounced Louis Steven Ledesma, 21, of Princeton dead at the scene at about 4:30 a.m. Sunday from injuries he received in the traffic accident. Ledesma was the front-seat passenger in the vehicle. He was not wearing a seat belt but was not thrown from the vehicle, Wamhoff said.

The female driver of the vehicle and a female passenger in the back seat were both transported to Perry Memorial Hospital, with the driver then lifeflighted to OSF St. Francis Medical Center in Peoria, Wamhoff said.

In a press release issued Monday morning, Bureau County Sheriff John Thompson said the sheriff’s department received notice about 8 p.m. Sunday from the Peoria County Coroner’s Office the 21-year-old female driver of the vehicle had been pronounced dead at the Peoria hospital.

The driver of the vehicle has been identified as Brittney Curtis of Princeton.

Thompson said it is his understanding the back seat passenger in the vehicle, Samantha Bolin, 20, of Princeton has been released from Perry Memorial Hospital.

The sheriff’s department was called to the fatal accident scene at about 4 a.m. Sunday on Route 26, about one-fourth mile south of Kasbeer, Thompson said. The accident occurred on a straight section of road.

Thompson said the investigation into the Sunday fatality is continuing, but he expects the report could be completed later on today, Tuesday, with the exception of the accompanying diagram of the accident scene.

The subject of the investigation is to determine whether or not there were other events or issues, either outside or inside of the vehicle, which could have initiated the accident, Thompson said, adding the surviving passenger has been interviewed.

In addition to the Bureau County Coroner and the Bureau County Sheriff’s Department, also assisting at the scene were the Ohio Fire Department, the Princeton Fire/EMS Department, and Bureau County Sheriff’s Department accident reconstructionist Gary Becket.

The Peoria County Coroner’s office did not return a phone call by press time for further information on the Curtis death.

For Ledesma, Wamhoff said toxicology reports on Ledesma are pending, and no autopsy was done. An inquest may be scheduled if needed, she said.

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