(The Chicago Sun Times posted the following article on its website on March 10.)
CHICAGO — Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway is offering a $5,000 reward for information related to a fatal accident last Friday in which the driver of an SUV crashed into a Metra station in Berwyn, killing a woman as she was opening the door to start work.
“We are offering the reward to anyone with information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the offender,” said BNSF spokesman Steve Forsberg. A reward will hopefully stimulate additional information in the ongoing investigation, he said. Anyone with information should call Berwyn police at (708) 795-5600.
Meanwhile, police, even those who are off duty, are still seeking the driver, thought to be from the area, who fled on foot after the crash, police said.
The SUV is registered in an adjoining suburb and the driver is thought to have family in the area, said Berwyn Police Chief Bill Kushner.
“Nobody wants the person apprehended more than the Berwyn police department,’’ he said. “By running, he really raised more questions as far as why. Why did he run? It’s an accident.’’
Berwyn police detectives are pitching in to help. “It’s been tremendous, the detectives are pitching in, they say ‘I’m off today, I thought I’d come in and lend a hand,’ ” Kushner said.
The victim was identified as Kathleen Talmage, a 58-year-old ticket agent who had only been on duty a “few minutes” when the vehicle slammed into the station, according to Forsberg.
Talmage, who was buried in rubble after the 6 a.m. crash, was pronounced dead at MacNeal Hospital in Berwyn, according to a Cook County medical examiner’s office spokeswoman.