Wauconda Schools: 'Heavy Heart' After Employee, Graduate Dies

VOLO, IL — The Wauconda Community Unit School District 118 Support Services Team released a statement Wednesday afternoon, just hours after a Wauconda High School Class of 2019 graduate and summer/seasonal school district employee died in a car crash. According to a release from the Lake County Sheriff's Office, the 18-year-old woman from Volo was killed in the Wednesday morning crash when the pickup truck she was reportedly driving northbound on Route 12 went off the road and rolled over, partially ejecting her, according to an investigation.

The Wauconda CUSD 118 Support Services Team issued a statement on the district's website:

"It’s with a heavy heart that we share that a Class of 2019 Wauconda High School graduate and a summer/seasonal Wauconda School District employee passed away in an automobile accident this morning.

We will have counselors available for staff, students, and community members at Wauconda High School from 5pm - 7:30pm tonight; enter through the main entrance."

The statement also included suggestions for parents regarding listening to their child, tips on how to answer any questions children may have, and additional options for support regarding the topics of grief and loss.

"As a parent, you may want to talk with your child about death because it impacts each person in different ways," the statement reads. "How children react will depend on the relationship they had with the person who died, their age, and their prior experience with a loss.

Our thoughts continue to be with the family. Again, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s school should you require assistance.

Sincerely,Wauconda CUSD 118 Support Services Team."

Deputies were called at 7:15 a.m. to the crash site just north of Case Road, where they found the driver who reportedly wasn't wearing a seat belt during the crash, and was critically injured. She was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the sheriff's office. The Lake County Coroner’s Office was at the crash site and is scheduling an autopsy for Thursday, according to the release.

The truck's passenger, an 18-year-old woman from Wauconda who also recently graduated from the high school, was wearing her seat belt and had minor injuries from the crash, the sheriff's office said. She was taken to Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital in unincorporated Barrington with non-life-threatening injuries, officials added.

According to the release, more details from a preliminary investigation show the 2000 GMC pickup truck driven by the Volo woman was carrying a sealcoating tank as it headed north, when the driver for reasons unknown drove off the east side of the road and over corrected, likely causing the truck to roll.

The sheriff's office said the passenger is also a summer/seasonal Wauconda School District employees, as was the woman who died. Both were working at the time of the crash, according to the release.

Patch will update this breaking news as more information becomes available.