A mother of three children was killed in a crash Wednesday afternoon in north suburban Volo.
Susana Ortega, 24, was identified Friday as the driver of a white car that crashed about 12:25 p.m. two days earlier, according to the Lake County Coroner’s Office. She had inexplicably driven into the eastbound lanes of Illinois Route 120, just west of Ellis Drive, and struck a red SUV driven by a 55-year-old woman, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office said.
Ortega, of Round Lake Park, was taken to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville, where she was pronounced dead, the coroner’s office said. An autopsy Thursday found she died of traumatic injuries in the crash, the Lake County Coroner’s Office said. Toxicology results were pending further investigation.
The driver of the SUV was also taken to a hospital, and was expected to survive.
The sheriff’s Technical Crash Investigations Team was investigating the crash.
Ortega’s sister, Emily Ortega, created a GoFundMe page “in honor of Susie Ortega.”
“Susie was the brightest, craziest, happiest, person ever,” Emily wrote on the page. “She’s worked her butt off to provide for [her children]. She went above and beyond for her babies. She brought such a positive energy around. She was the life of the party.”
Emily asked friends, family and strangers to help with costs after her sister’s untimely death.
“She was the best sister, mother, and daughter anyone could ever ask for,” Emily wrote. “But unfortunately God decided that it was her time and took her with him. It was so unexpectedly we obviously have nothing. So anything will honestly help us. Thank you guys.”
More than $4,600 of the $15,000 goal had been donated by 102 people as of Friday evening.
