UPDATE: Coroner: 2 dead in connected cases near St. Louis
HIGHLAND, Ill. (AP) — The coroner in Madison County, Illinois, says incidents a house fire and the discovery of a baby in a car in a lake are connected, and that two deaths have now been confirmed.
A fire broke out around 5:30 a.m. Thursday at a home in Glen Carbon, Illinois. An adult was killed but six children, siblings ranging from very young to teenagers, escaped. About a half-hour later, a car was found in Silver Lake in Highland, Illinois, about 16 miles from the home.
A baby was found alone in the car and taken to a St. Louis hospital. The child’s condition has not been disclosed. Coroner Steve Nonn says in a news release that the two investigations are “inter-related” and involved the deaths of two residents.
He didn’t say who died in addition to the fire victim, and did not immediately respond to phone messages. Searchers spent the morning in the lake searching for any potential additional victims.
Property records show the burned home belonged to 32-year-old Cristy Lynn Campbell. Glen Carbon police issued an advisory describing her as a “person of interest” and “possibly endangered.”
**************************************************
HIGHLAND, Ill. (AP) — An infant is being treated at a St. Louis hospital after the car the child was in rolled into a lake.
(Source: Madison Co. SO)
Authorities say the baby was the only occupant found in the car that went into Silver Lake around 6 a.m. Thursday in Highland, Illinois, about 30 miles east of St. Louis. The infant was rescued and emergency workers performed CPR before the child was flown to St. Louis. The child’s condition was not immediately known.
Fire Capt. Brad Menz says it appears that the car rolled down a hillside and into the lake.
Though no one else was found in the car, the Illinois Department of Conservation had a boat on the lake searching the water.
The vehicle has been removed from the water and no other people were found to be inside. The driver of the vehicle has not yet been identified.
However, KSDK TV says according to the Glen Carbon Police Department, 32-year-old Cristy Lynn Campbell has been named a person of interest and may be possibly endangered.
Anyone with info should contact 618-288-7226 or 618-692-4433.
Search crews are on scene looking for other people that could have been inside the vehicle.
It’s unclear if the incident is related to a fatal house fire in Glen Carbon that was reported about 15 minutes before the vehicle was reported in the lake.
Authorities have confirmed one person has died in the fire, its unclear how many people were home at the time, but multiple children ran from the home to a nearby Walmart to report the fire.