Man dead, woman missing after car goes into Little Calumet River
A man is dead, and a woman is missing after a car lost control and ended up in the Little Calumet River on Chicago's Far South Side early Tuesday morning.
Chicago police said around 2:30 a.m., a car with five people inside lost control, hit a barrier in the 1300 block of South Indiana Avenue, and ended up in the river.
Police said three people inside the car were able to get out and reach land safely.
A man was rescued by the Marine Unit and taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he died. He was identified as 24-year-old Trumayne Sanders.
Police said a 26-year-old woman, identified by her family as Ralphelle Howard, has not been located. The Marine Unit is searching the river, police said.
Her father, Benard Howard, along with friends and family, spent the day searching the area, saying her phone was pinged there.
"That's my baby and I love her," he said. "Her smile brightened up the room. She was just outside enjoying herself with some friends."
Another 24-year-old man driving the car was taken to Roseland Hospital in good condition. Police said the driver was issued a citation for failing to reduce speed.
Two other women inside the car were not injured.
Chicago police are leading the investigation.
Crash history near Little Calumet River
Unfortunately, Tuesday's crash was not the only one in that area.
In February 2024, the driver of a stolen U-Haul was killed after crashing into the river. A spokesperson for the Chicago Department of Transportation said guardrails were replaced after that crash in March 2024, but they were noticeably missing after Tuesday's crash. — a concern for Howard's father.
"They ain't doing the proper job," he said.
P.S. Sriraj, director of the Urban Transportation Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago, says if a guardrail is compromised in an accident, it's up to authorities to replace it in its place the way it was designed.
"If they have not been installed rightly, which I cannot speak to, then there is all these other outcomes that are possible."
He says speed and the angle of the hit matter.
"We do not know the speed the vehicle was traveling at. The angle of impact is also very crucial in all of these instances."
Sriraj adds that guardrails have proven effective after years of tests not just in the U.S., but in other countries.
Benard says he will push for the city to take a close look at the area.
"Yeah, I was going to keep on pushing for it, and even now, I'm going to keep pushing for this to be a change."
