Authorities identify toddler, two teens killed in weekend crashes

Authorities on Monday released the names of three people killed in weekend crashes.

Tessa Ann Wilson, 23 months, died at about 2 p.m. Sunday when the car being driven south by her mother slid into the path of an oncoming truck in the 4500 block of South Rock Road, Sedgwick County sheriff’s Lt. Lin Dehning said. The child was pronounced dead at the scene.

Her mother, 28-year-old Caitlin Wilson, remains in critical condition at Wesley Medical Center. The driver of the pickup, 58-year-old Paul Rinehart of Derby, is in good condition at Via Christi Hospital-St. Francis.

Dehning said investigators still aren’t sure what caused Wilson’s vehicle to swerve, though a report on the collision cites a witness reporting a northbound vehicle that swerved into the southbound lanes, causing Wilson to swerve in an attempt to avoid a collision.

Investigators said late Monday that a third car may have been involved in the accident. The Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office is asking the public for help in identifying the car, which is described as a white, older-model midsize car with a beveled or curved rear end. The car was traveling north on Rock Road from 47th Street South about the time of the accident.

Anyone with information about the vehicle or who witnessed the accident and has not talked to investigators is asked to call 911 or the sheriff’s records section at 316-660-3888.

It’s unclear whether weather played a role in the collision near Derby, Dehning said.

“The patrol deputies on the scene did not find any evidence of ice on the road at that time,” he said in an e-mail response to questions.

Weather was blamed for four fatalities in two traffic crashes in the metro area on Friday.

Two teenage boys were killed Friday afternoon in Harvey County and two women were killed Friday night on the Kansas Turnpike near Andover. Icy conditions were blamed in both crashes.

A 35-year-old Whitewater woman was driving an Infiniti SUV on South East Lake Road just south of Southeast 96th Street at about 3 p.m. on Friday when she lost control of the vehicle and it rolled over, crashing into a large utility pole, Harvey County Sheriff T. Walton said in a statement.

The woman’s son, 14-year-old Kyle Landon Miller of Kingman, was ejected from the SUV and died at the scene. Her nephew, 14-year-old Cole Mies of Kingman, was taken to Newton Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

The woman told authorities she was driving about 55 miles an hour at the time of the crash, Walton said. She was taken to Via Christi Hospital St. Francis in Wichita with injuries considered not life-threatening.

Power outages

Westar Energy crews were scrambling to deal with outages that affected more than 7,700 customers as of early Monday afternoon.

Reno County accounted for 5,500 of the outages with Hutchinson hit the hardest. There are so many outages in Reno County that electricity may not be fully restored there until Wednesday, Westar officials said.

The American Red Cross set up a warming center at the First United Methodist Church in McPherson for local residents who do not have electricity. Westar reported more than 200 outages in McPherson County as of early Monday afternoon.

An area from Abilene to Manhattan also was hard hit by weekend ice storms. Nearly 1,000 customers were still without power in that region Monday afternoon, and Westar officials estimated full restoration won’t come until sometime Tuesday.

Wichita response

Wichita used nearly half of its salt-sand mix on hand to treat streets over the icy holiday weekend, said Joe Pajor, deputy director of public works.

Crews resumed normal shifts Monday after pulling 12-hour shifts since early Thanksgiving evening, Pajor said. Over the course of that four-day period, he said, crews used about 3,000 tons of salt-sand mix – nearly half of the city’s current supply.

“No two storms are the same,” Pajor said. “This one had the advantages of being relatively well-behaved” in the Wichita area.

“The challenge it created for drivers is that, because most of the pavement was just wet, people got a false sense of security,” he said. “If they hit a trouble spot, they were not prepared.”

There were 40 injury crashes and 124 non-injury crashes in Sedgwick County between 5 p.m. Thursday and 8 a.m. Monday, according to data supplied by Sedgwick County Emergency Communications.

Pothole repairs

Wichita officials have shifted their focus to pothole repair, Pajor said. Eight two-man crews have been assigned to the effort.

“There are quite a few that developed as a result of the weekend weather,” Pajor said.

Motorists who encounter a pothole large enough to damage a car are encouraged to call 911, he said. Those potholes will be made a priority.

“Most of them are not of that nature,” Pajor said. “We patch an average of 50,000 potholes per year. Very few of them are actually threatening.”

Drivers who come across potholes considered more of a nuisance than an immediate threat are being asked to call 316-268-4013 during regular business hours, he said.

This story was originally published November 30, 2015 at 1:15 PM with the headline "Authorities identify toddler, two teens killed in weekend crashes."