Montgomery girl, 12, killed in downstate ATV crash

(NOKOMIS, Ill.) A 12-year-old west suburban girl died after she and her father were involved in an ATV crash in downstate Illinois on the Fourth of July.

About 6:50 p.m. Saturday, Isabella S. Erickson was driving the Polaris Trail Blazer 250 ATV with her father as a passenger near the city of Nokomis when the vehicle left the roadway, struck a tree and turned over, according to a statement from the Montgomery County sheriff’s office.

The west suburban Montgomery residents were both airlifted to a hospital in Springfield, about 43 miles away, where Erickson was later pronounced dead.

Her father remains hospitalized, the sheriff’s office said.

Erickson was a student at Plank Junior High School in Oswego, according to a statement issued by School District 308 Supt. Matthew Wendt.

“At this time, words cannot express our grief and our heart-felt sympathy for Isabella’s entire family,” Wendt said in the statement. “Family and friends have shared how Isabella was a wonderfully warm and caring girl who displayed remarkable talent in art.”

“She will be deeply missed by her fellow students, teachers, and the staff at Plank Junior High and throughout the district,” Wendt said.

A visitation is scheduled from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday at Dieterle Funeral Home in Montgomery, the school district said. The family welcomes students who wish to attend, and asks them to wear a tie-dyed shirt in her memory.

A funeral service will take place 10 a.m. Monday, also at Dieterle Funeral Home, according to the school district.

Plank Junior High School will have a crisis counseling team on site Monday to meet with students and staff, the school district said.