TUESDAY, JUN 2, 2015
PORTAGE, MICHIGAN
Two Illinois residents died after a set of tires on a
semi-truck came loose along Interstate 94 in southwestern Michigan, striking a
car with three people inside who were heading to a wedding, authorities and
friends said.
The Portage Department of Public Safety said the car's
67-year-old backseat passenger, Rebecca Avery of Glenview, died at the scene of
the Saturday crash.
Her 34-year-old son-in-law, Michael Ditewig of Chicago,
died Sunday afternoon at a hospital in Kalamazoo.
Ditewig was driving. His wife, Cynthia, was in the front
seat and had what were described by authorities as non-life-threatening
injuries.
"When you think of what she had to go through -- she
looked in the back seat and saw her mother and then she had to witness her
husband passing away a day later -- I think that's just very tough to deal
with," said Jim Wilson, a long-time family friend and neighbor.
Investigators said Ditewig was heading east on the
interstate in Portage when the car was struck by the westbound truck's wheel
and tire assembly, which went over the median into the eastbound lanes.
Authorities said Monday the crash remained under
investigation.
Source: abc.com