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WILL COUNTY — One person was killed in a crash with a semi and a car in Peotone Tuesday morning, the Will County Sheriff’s Office said.
The crash occurred just before 6 a.m. on Wilmington-Peotone Road near 104th Avenue, the Sheriff’s Office said.
The victim’s identity has not been released as of 11:15 a.m.
The road was closed between Center Road and Route 45 for an investigation, the sheriff’s office said. It reopened just before 1 p.m.
Manhattan Fire Protection District and Will County Emergency Management Agency assisted at the scene, the sheriff’s office said.
The latest fatal crash is one of several in the area in a span of just months.
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On Jan. 15, a 24-year-old Manhattan woman was killed in a head-on crash with a school bus near the intersection of Manhattan-Monee Road and Kankakee Street in Manhattan.
In October 2025, 13-year-old Chance Hunnicutt was fatally struck by a semi while riding his bike in downtown Manhattan. Hunnicutt died just days after 11-year-old Danny Bayles, who suffered a pulmonary embolism following an asthma attack, family told Patch. Both were students at Manhattan District 114’s Manhattan Jr. High.
In December, a head-on crash in nearby Elwood claimed the lives of Elwood man Joshua Villalobos, 35, and Diane Hopkins, 64, of Ohio. Two others were injured. Initial investigation indicates Villalobos was driving westbound on Manhattan Road, just west of Cherry Hill Road, when his vehicle entered oncoming traffic in the eastbound lane, striking the second vehicle head-on.
Later in December, 32-year-old Manhattan woman Victoria Stanek died in a single vehicle rollover crash at Route 45 and Steger Road near Frankfort.
Though Tuesday’s crash was in Peotone, state legislators after the Jan. 15 crash in Manhattan issued a statement calling for “timely and swift action” to address dangerous intersections in Manhattan, specifically.
State Senator Patrick Joyce (D-Essex) and State Representative Anthony DeLuca (D-Chicago Heights) issued a joint statement Jan. 16.
“These tragic events ripple throughout a community,” the legislators said in a statement. “Our deepest sympathy and thoughts are with the families and loved ones. The major roadways for the town of Manhattan, particularly Illinois Route 52 and Manhattan–Monee Road are in need of modernization.
“We all know the region has seen business and population growth, resulting in increased truck and vehicle counts. The area needs infrastructure upgrades and improvements such as clearly marked pedestrian crossings, sufficient lighting, and revised speed limits to keep up with the growth.”
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