A side-by-side vehicle overturned into a creek bed on wooded trails outside Ava early Thursday, killing two Murphysboro residents and leaving a third person hospitalized in serious but stable condition. Jackson County deputies and emergency crews were called around 12:17 a.m. to the crash site near Tiger Road.
Authorities identified the two people killed as 35-year-old Alex Auld and 35-year-old Kelsie Blue, both of Murphysboro, according to wsiu.org. The third occupant, 62-year-old David A. McCaleb, also of Murphysboro, was airlifted to a St. Louis-area hospital, where he was listed in serious but stable condition, according to the WPSD Local 6 report, which cited a Jackson County Sheriff's Office news release signed by Captain Carson Bunton.
Vehicle Overturned on Wooded Trail Before Landing in Creek
Investigators said the UTV had been traveling on trails through a wooded area when it overturned into a creek bed, per the same account from the sheriff's office. The crash left two of the vehicle's three occupants dead and the third seriously injured, authorities said. The Ava Fire Department, Campbell Hill Fire Department and Jackson County Ambulance Service all responded to the scene, according to WPSD Local 6's reporting.
The Jackson County Sheriff's Office said it was continuing its investigation into the crash, the station notes. The Jackson County Coroner's Office is also involved in examining the deaths, per WPSD Local 6's account. No further details on the cause of the rollover have been released.
Second Fatal Crash Struck Jackson County Hours Earlier
The UTV crash came just hours after another fatal wreck in the same county. A 70-year-old Ava man, Rick Hussey, died Wednesday evening after his pickup left the roadway on Illinois Route 151 near Bluegrass Lane, striking trees and an embankment, according to wsiu.org. Investigators said Hussey was ejected from the vehicle and was not wearing a seatbelt.
The back-to-back tragedies underscore a broader pattern around off-road vehicle safety in Illinois. In 2022, Illinois Extension recorded 18 ATV and UTV cases that resulted in injury statewide, involving 44 people and 10 fatalities, according to Illinois Extension. Most of those cases happened on roadways, with June and July seeing the highest number of incidents.
Illinois Extension's records include other UTV rollovers with tragic outcomes. In June 2022, a UTV carrying three high-school-aged youths rolled and struck a pole, sending all three to the hospital; one passenger later died. In a separate November 2022 case, a UTV rollover following a collision with an SUV killed the UTV's driver at the scene and injured its passenger.
No additional information on the circumstances of Thursday's Ava crash has been released. The Jackson County Sheriff's Office said its investigation remains ongoing.
