Woman identified in fatal Carroll County crash was reported as missing person

CARROLL COUNTY, Ill. – A woman found dead in a crashed truck in Carroll County earlier this month had been reported missing.

On Nov. 10, at around 1:20 p.m., the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office says the Dispatch Center received a report of a one-vehicle crash on Highway 52, west of Vanbuskirk Road, between Mt. Carroll and Lanark.

In a press release, the Sheriff’s Office said the driver, who was the sole occupant of the vehicle, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Through a records request, police reports reveal the driver, Abigail Heckman, 22, of Stephenson County, had been reported missing earlier that morning.

The search.

At around 7:35 a.m., dispatch received a call advising Heckman was on her way home from Clinton, Iowa the previous night but never returned, police reports show.

The caller told dispatch Heckman used the Life 360 app on her phone to share her location, of which listed an address near Mt. Carroll on Highway 52, but became inactive around 2:31 a.m., police reports show.

The last location provided from Life 360, at around 2:31 a.m., was ‘in front of Northern Illinois Diesel,’ located at 20518 U.S. Highway 52, police reports show.

Stephenson County authorities were then notified because it is where the Heckman family resides, and began welfare-check efforts, police reports show.

At around 11 a.m., Stephenson County authorities informed Carroll County a GPS tracker from a dealership placed Heckman’s black pickup truck further west at 18907 U.S. Highway 52, police reports show.

A Carroll County Deputy and Mt. Carroll Police Officer both searched the area pinged by Life 360, as well as the location provided by Stephenson County, but neither were able to locate Heckman, police reports show.

The crash.

At around 1:20 p.m., a passerby found the vehicle partially submerged in Carroll-Straddle Creek near the bridge on Highway 52, about one-half mile east of Northern Illinois Diesel, police reports show.

Upon arrival, investigators found a black pickup truck, with front-end damage and broken front passenger-side window, partially submerged in the creek, north of highway, with driver’s side down and front end facing south, police reports show.

Investigators found ‘clear’ tire furrows leaving the north edge of the roadway about 260 feet west of the creek while traveling eastbound, police reports show.

The furrows traveled northeast, then east, then southeast, suggesting ‘possible corrective/evasive steering before the vehicle struck small trees and entered the water,’ police reports show.

On Nov. 13, preliminary findings from an autopsy indicate Heckman likely died by drowning, but suffered ‘no traumatic injuries,’ police reports show.

What’s next?

The investigation is still ongoing, as final manner and cause of death have not been determined pending full autopsy report and toxicology results, police reports show.

The cause of the crash is unknown.

Listen to dispatch audio below, condensed for time, from 8:55 a.m. to 1:39 p.m.

^{Carroll County Dispatch audio from 8:55am to 1:39pm (Broadcastify)}

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