ISP TRAFFIC CRASH ALERT
The Following Preliminary Information is Being Released by
Illinois State Police District 12
WHAT: Fatal Traffic Crash #12-19-00103
WHERE: I-70 Eastbound near milepost 103 (Effingham County)
WHEN: 02/03/2019, 1:24 a.m.
VEHICLES: UNIT 1 – Silver 2007 Ford 4 door Sedan
UNIT 2 – Black 2015 Honda 4 door Sedan
DRIVER: UNIT 1- Cecil Hardesty, Male, 85, Neoga, IL (deceased)
UNIT 2- Stephanie M Chitwood, Female, 28, Seagoville, TX
PASSENGERS: UNIT 2 PASSENGER 1 – Megan A Vice, Female, 20, Pontoon Beach, IL
UNIT 2 PASSENGER 2 – Matthew W Stephenson, Male, 23, Perryville, MO
CHARGES: N/A
TRANSPORTS: UNIT 1 – Coroner
UNIT 2 – All occupants were transported to a nearby hospital by EMS
PRELIMINARY: Preliminary investigative details indicate unit 1 was going the wrong way traveling eastbound in the westbound lanes of I-70 near milepost 103. Unit 2 was travelling westbound in the westbound lanes of I-70 near milepost 103. Unit 1 had a head-on collision with unit 2. Both vehicles came to a rest in the median on I-70 near milepost 103. Driver of unit 1 was pronounced deceased by the Effingham County Coroner. All occupants of unit 2 were transported to a nearby hospital by ambulance.
All subjects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law
