Identities from fatal three-vehicle crash near Oregon released

OREGON — Dirk Miller, 55, of Mt. Morris, was identified by Ogle County Sheriff’s Office as the driver who was killed when his car crashed into two other vehicles on Monday afternoon on state Route 2 north of Oregon.

The sheriff’s office also provided the names of the other adults involved in the crash.

Miller was pronounced dead at SwedishAmerican Hospital in Rockford after Byron EMS transported him there after the crash, the sheriff’s report said.

A preliminary investigation showed Miller was southbound on Illinois Route 2 when he crossed the center line into the northbound lane, where he struck two oncoming vehicles, the report states.

One of those vehicles was a 15-passenger school bus driven by Teresa Gabriel, 58, of Dixon, according to the report. Gabriel and a passenger, Connie Sloter, 34, of Dixon, were transported to local hospitals for minor injuries; a juvenile passenger was uninjured and released to a family member at the scene.

It was an Illinois Central school bus, but no students were on board, company officials said Monday.

The van-like bus was carrying two adults — the driver and a monitor — and a child of one of the adults, said Richard Price, Illinois Central’s director of safety and risk management.

It was an out-of-district vehicle, meaning it was traveling through the area, and was not from the Oregon, Byron or Dixon school districts, Price said. It had come from the company’s Dixon bus lot and was headed to Rockford, he said.

The driver of the third vehicle, Kiara Franklin, 22, of Rockford, was transported to Mercyhealth Javon Bea Hospital-Riverside in Rockford for non-life-threatening injuries, according to the sheriff’s report. Two juvenile passengers also were taken to the hospital for observation.

Route 2 was closed between East Camling and Town Hall roads while officers worked the scene of the crash, which was just south of Camling, 6.5 miles north of Oregon. The road closure, which lasted until just before 6 p.m., was to allow officials to reconstruct the collision, Ogle County Sheriff Brain VanVickle said Monday.

The crash is under investigation.