UPDATE @ 2:33 p.m.
The 13-year-old girl killed Thursday night in the crash on Ohio 235 was Sky Lhamon, officials with The Shelby County Department of Job and Family Services said.
Lhamon was in the permanent custody of the county’s children’s services, according to a statement from the department.
According to the statement, Lhamon’s foster mom notified the agency earlier Thursday evening that the girl had taken the foster mom’s van and left. Law enforcement was notified and a report was made, the officials said in the statement.
>>MORE COVERAGE: 911 calls released in Ohio 235 crash that killed 13-year-old
Shelby County Children Services officials expressed their condolences for Lhamon’s family.
“It is always tragic when a young life is cut short. We wish to express our deepest sympathy to the family of Sky especially to her two sisters,” according to the statement. “Additionally, the foster parent has suffered a loss in the death of someone who became a family member.
The agency said there was no immediate crisis that led to the crash.
A driver who had been following the minivan said a man from a vehicle in front of his got out and sprinted to the scene to see what had happened.
Michael Rakestraw, the driver following the minivan and the other vehicle, said he was shocked to learn the minivan’s driver was a 13-year-old girl.
“It looked bad,” Rakestraw said. “I said to myself, ‘I find it hard to believe that whoever was in that van was going to come out of that alive. That’s how bad it looked to me. The van went left of center and the semi tried to avoid it, and that’s what caused the crash.”
Rakestraw, when told the driver was 13 years old, said, “That breaks my heart.”
UPDATE @ 10:08 a.m. (June 8):
The girl who died in the fatal crash on Ohio 235 Thursday night is believed to be a 13-year-old, the Clark County Coroner’s Office said this morning.
A coroner’s investigator said he still needs to make calls to Shelby County Children Services this morning before he can confirm an identity.
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Sgt. Meddock with the State Highway Patrol Springfield Post said the girl was wearing a seat belt when the mini-van she was driving crashed head-on into a semi truck.
Meddock said that area doesn’t see an irregularly high number of crashes.
INITIAL REPORT (June 7):
The driver of a minivan was killed in a head-on crash Thursday night involving a semi north of New Carlisle.
The minivan was headed north on Ohio 235 around 9 p.m. when the driver went left of center and into the path of the semi, which unsuccessfully tried to avoid the other vehicle, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol’s Springfield Post.
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The semi dragged the van between 50 and 100 feet, the trooper said.
The driver, described as a young girl, was pronounced dead at the scene by the Clark County coroner, according to troopers. The crash victim’s name and hometown was being withheld pending notification of family.
Ohio 235 was closed for several hours and was reopened by 2:30 a.m.
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