7 dead, including 5 children, in fiery wrong-way crash on I-90 in McHenry County

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MCHENRY COUNTY, Ill. (CBS) – Seven people, including five children, are dead after a wrong-way crash on I-90 In McHenry County early Sunday morning. 

The multi-vehicle crash happened around 2 a.m. in the westbound lanes of I-90 near milepost 33.5.

Police said a car driving east the the westbound lanes struck a van head-on, causing both vehicles to become engulfed in flames.

A mother and her four children and another teenager in the van all died. 

Lauren Dobosz, 31, was a mom of four, a devoted cheerleading coach and wife. She was killed alongside her children, just 5, 6, 7 and 13 years old. Another 13-year-old who was in the car at the time also died. Some of the children were members of a cheerleading squad for the Oriole Park Falcons, a youth football team on Chicago’s Northwest Side. 


Family killed in fiery, wrong-way crash identified; father still in serious condition

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Lauren’s husband Tom was driving. He was airlifted to Loyola University Medical Center in serious condition, the only survivor of the crash. 

The wrong way driver, 22-year-old Jennifer Fernandez, also died. 

David Moreno, who has known the Dobosz family for 10 years, lives across the street in Rolling Meadows, where toys still lay scattered by the garage Sunday. Those toys will never be used again.   

“We’re used to seeing all those kids riding their bikes up and down the street and then their parents yelling at them to be careful, to slow down and all that. And to think you won’t have that anymore, you’re going to miss things like that,” said Moreno. “Kind of hits harder, you know, in a different way.”

Meantime, the coaches of the cheerleading squad plan an emergency team meeting on Monday to figure out how they can offer grief support to the cheerleaders, and find a path forward. They’re also organizing a fundraiser for Tom Dobosz as he recovers.

Source: ChicagoCBS