TRAVERSE CITY -- Authorities continue to piece together details of a grisly traffic crash that killed a Kalkaska Public Schools third-grader and another passenger.
Andrea Kennedy, 8, was days away from starting school at Birch Street Elementary in Kalkaska, Superintendent Lee Sandy said. Andrea died in a three-vehicle traffic crash on U.S. 31 in Grand Traverse County's Acme Township Monday morning.
The crash also killed Barbara Antaya, 51, of Kalkaska, and injured four others.
Police believe Andrea was a backseat passenger in a vehicle driven by her mother, Louann Hubbard. Antaya was a front-seat passenger in that vehicle, investigators said.
It appears Hubbard, 47, crossed the center line at about 10:30 a.m. Monday and struck a pickup truck driven north by Elk Rapids resident Michael Manzardo, police said. Hubbard's vehicle separated from Manzardo's truck and then struck a Cadillac heading north.
Hubbard remained in critical condition at Munson Medical Center Tuesday. The Cadillac was driven by Traverse City resident Theresa Fogle, 61. Also in that vehicle were Delores Witkop, 71, and Gail McCormick, 61.
Fogle and both of her passengers remained in the hospital with serious injuries Tuesday. Manzardo was the only person involved who wasn't injured.
It's still not clear what caused Hubbard to veer across the center lane, investigators said.
"The good thing about this incident is that we have witnesses," Grand Traverse Undersheriff Nate Alger said. "The witnesses definitely saw her cross the center line. That's not disputed. At this point, it's just why she did that."
Police also will work to determine the speed of the vehicles involved, and whether all occupants were wearing seat belts. That information still isn't clear, Alger said.
The only infractions on Hubbard's driving record are tickets issued for speeding and no proof of insurance in December 2001, Michigan Secretary of State records show.
It took authorities several hours to complete a preliminary investigation and clear the wreckage on U.S. 31 after the crash. Traffic was diverted onto Angell and Bates roads until about 3 p.m.
The wreck was particularly significant for the area, Alger said.
"We very rarely have accidents (where) that number of victims go with that severe of injuries," he said.
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