Two teenagers were killed when their SUV crashed into a tree in Antioch in heavy rain, authorities said.
Joel Wittkamp, 16, and Ashley Seay, 17, were traveling west when their Chevrolet Trailblazer left the road in the 27000 block of Wilmot Road around 7 p.m. Monday, according to the Lake County sheriff's office. The SUV went through a yard before hitting the tree, the office said.
Both teens died on the scene. Joel, who was driving, was from Antioch and Ashley was from Lindenhurst, according to the Lake County coroner's office.
Authorities said they believe weather contributed to the crash. A man who lives where the crash occurred said it was raining hard when the accident occurred.
"It was pouring," said Tim Staples.
Staples said he was home when "I just saw the headlights spin ... We ran out and you could see the car was in the tree, the tree was on the car ... a mangled car I couldn't recognize."
"We checked the scene," he said. "We had flashlights and we looked inside. It didn't look promising, it looked really bad."
He said firefighters reached the scene in 7 or 8 minutes. "It took them an hour to get them out. They had to take the top of the car off."
Staples said the car hit a tree he had planted on his property 30 years ago.
Joel attended Antioch High School, officials said.
"We have counselors who are available," said Principal John Whitehurst. "Someone is following the young man’s schedule. If there were kids close to him, we are identifying who they are."
Whitehurst noted an earlier tragedy last November, when freshman Nicole Parfitt, 14, and her father were killed in a plane crash. "I know this is going to bring back some really unfortunate memories with kids intimately familiar with the incident," he said.
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2 teens die in Antioch crash: 'I just saw headlights spin'
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2 teens die in Antioch crash: 'I just saw headlights spin'
