Billie Eilish sends love to families of Kearney teens killed in police chase crash
Pop superstar Billie Eilish showed support for the families of two Kearney, Missouri, teens killed in a police chase crash with a wrong-way driver as they were traveling to her concert in Omaha Sunday.
The singer-songwriter, who performed Saturday in Kansas City before traveling to Omaha for her Sunday show, commented on an Instagram post from a fan account that shared a GoFundMe fundraiser after the crash.
Lucy Yeates, 18, and Kole Cunningham, 18, were killed when they were hit head-on by a car driving the wrong way on Interstate 29 in Missouri while being pursued by Iowa law enforcement. Lucy’s twin sister Aubrey Yeates was taken to a Nebraska hospital, where she is recovering from serious injuries.
“Sending so much love to the families. So heartbreaking,” Eilish said on the post.
More than 850 others commented on the post from Instagram user @billieeilishtours.
“It is with a heavy heart that we let you guys know about the tragic car accident three fans in our community, Kole, Lucy and Aubrey endured on their way to Billie’s concert in Omaha yesterday,” the fan account said Monday.
What led to the crash?
The fatal crash took place around 7:20 a.m. Sunday on Interstate 29 in Atchison County, Missouri, near the Iowa border. The driver of the car being pursued, a 29-year-old man from Bellevue, Nebraska, also died in the crash. His 1-year-old son survived.
Sheriff’s deputies from Fremont County, Iowa, as well as Iowa State Patrol troopers, had pursued the suspect on I-29 after he allegedly kidnapped the 1-year-old, along with the child’s mother, in Nebraska. The man dropped the woman off at a hospital in Hamburg, Iowa before fleeing local law enforcement.
Throughout the pursuit, the Nebraska man was driving south in the northbound lanes of I-29, reaching speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour, according to radio traffic, with law enforcement officers following suit as the chase crossed the state line into Missouri.
A Fremont County deputy had followed the suspect car into oncoming traffic on the wrong side of the road, while Iowa State Patrol troopers pursued in the southbound lanes. The deputy who pursued the suspect on the wrong side of the interstate did not violate the sheriff’s office policy on police chases, according to a sheriff’s office spokesperson, but their agency has not yet publicly released that policy.
Wake said the deputy continued to chase the suspect in the wrong lane of traffic with the interest of public safety in mind.
Iowa’s state police agency has a policy against that kind of pursuit, and troopers chased the suspect on the correct southbound lanes before the crash.
The Kearney teens were on their way northbound, with Kole driving, when the Nebraska man hit them head-on, causing a chain- reaction crash involving a total of four vehicles, including a semi-trailer truck, that left all three dead and injured several others.
How to support the families
Aubrey, Lucy and Kole had all graduated from Kearney High School in 2023. Both Aubrey and Lucy were in their first year of college, where Lucy had been interested in pursuing a career in business, according to a statement put out by the family.
Kole Cunningham was also an identical twin, according to relatives. He played youth sports in Kearney growing up, and was passionate about music, friends and relatives shared online.
The Yeates family said Tuesday that they are seeking privacy as they continue to grieve.
“This incredibly senseless and tragic event has left our families with a hole that will never be filled,” the Yeates family said in a statement. “We thank our friends, family and community for their support, love and prayers as we come together to help Aubrey recover from this horrific experience.”
The family created a GoFundMe fundraiser to help with the costs of Aubrey’s recovery, which has raised around $19,000 from nearly 500 donors as of Wednesday afternoon.
“Aubrey is a dynamic young lady who is also attending college,” the Yeates family shared in Tuesday’s statement. “While this unexpected journey is sidetracking her, we look forward to supporting her every day as she heals.”
The Star’s Ilana Arougheti, Robert A. Cronkleton and Nathan Pilling contributed to this reporting.
This story was originally published November 20, 2024 at 4:01 PM.
