LaSalle County Authorities Find Body of Missing Crash Victim

January 4, 2011 - The mystery of what happened to a mother of four after she was involved in a car accident in early December has finally been solved. According to a report at the Chicago Tribune, deputies with the LaSalle County Sheriff's Department identified the body of the 40-year-old woman in a field near Brookfield Township.

The woman has been missing since Dec. 5, 2010, when the car she was riding in slid on an icy road and crashed into a utility pole. She and her husband had been returning from a Christmas party when the car crashed on Grand Ridge Mazon Blacktop shortly before 2 a.m. The woman's husband was found dead at the scene. Toxicology tests later determined that he was under the influence of alcohol, and his blood-alcohol content was .266 -- well above the legal limit of .08.

First responders found no sign of the 40-year-old woman, with the exception of some footprints in the snow. Search and rescue workers looked for the woman for days, but harsh weather hampered their efforts.

Finally, nearly a month after the initial accident, the woman's body was discovered by a news helicopter on Monday morning. The helicopter pilots noticed the victim's bright red dress, which may have been obscured by snow during the initial search. The body was discovered less than a mile from the crash site near East 27^th and North 20^th roads.