National

Parents of 4 kids killed in wrong-way crash, Illinois cops say. ‘A beautiful family’

Ron and Kelly Dube were killed in a wrong-way crash on Interstate 55 in Illinois.
Ron and Kelly Dube were killed in a wrong-way crash on Interstate 55 in Illinois. GoFundMe screengrab

Parents were killed in a wrong-way crash that also left three of their four children injured, Illinois cops say.

“Now these kids don’t have a parent. My four grandchildren do not have a parent anymore,” Ron Dube Sr. told WMAQ after his son and daughter-in-law were killed in the crash.

Illinois State Police said the crash happened around 10:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 27, on Interstate 55 in Will County. A Ford F-150 traveling the wrong direction struck a GMC Yukon, which was then struck by a semi, according to state police.

The driver and front-seat passenger of the Yukon, identified as Ron Dube, 35, and Kelly Dube, 34, were pronounced dead at the scene, the Will County Coroner’s Office and state police said. Three of their children were in the car and received non-life threatening injuries.

State police said the wrong-way driver was taken to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries. According to a GoFundMe for the Dubes, the F-150 driver was “under the influence of alcohol.”

Charges have not been filed as of June 29.

The Dubes, of Emington, recently moved into their dream home, according to WLS. The parents had just dropped off their oldest child at a sleepover, the TV station reported.

“It was a beautiful family. Four beautiful kids. I love those kids so much,” the children’s aunt, Melissa Allen, told WLS. “But their parents were just ripped away from them by a senseless act and for the rest of their lives, their lives are completely changed.”

Allen told WMAQ, “It is a miracle the kids are OK.”

Read Next
Read Next
Read Next

This story was originally published June 29, 2023 at 6:23 AM with the headline "Parents of 4 kids killed in wrong-way crash, Illinois cops say. ‘A beautiful family’."

MS
Mike Stunson
Lexington Herald-Leader
Mike Stunson covers real-time news for McClatchy. He is a 2011 Western Kentucky University graduate who has previously worked at the Paducah Sun and Madisonville Messenger as a sports reporter and the Lexington Herald-Leader as a breaking news reporter. 
Get one year of unlimited digital access for $159.99
#ReadLocal

Only 44¢ per day

SUBSCRIBE NOW