Kearney teen who was killed en route to Billie Eilish concert to be laid to rest
Nearly two weeks after an Iowa police chase ended in the car wreck that killed 18-year-old Lucy Jayne Yeates and Kole Cunningham, Lucy’s friends and family will lay her to rest.
Lucy and Kole, both from Kearney, had been on their way to a Billie Eilish concert in Omaha with Lucy’s twin sister, Aubrey Kendall Yeates, when they were hit head-on by a Bellevue, Nebraska, man driving the wrong way down I-29 while fleeing Iowa police across state lines. The crash took place around 7:20 a.m. on Nov. 17 in Atchison County, Missouri, near the Iowa border.
The Bellevue man, who has not been publicly identified, also died in the crash. His 1-year-old son, who was in the car, survived, as did Aubrey; both were airlifted to a Nebraska hospital, where Aubrey continues to recover from severe injuries.
Sheriff’s deputies from Fremont County, Iowa, as well as Iowa State Patrol troopers, had begun to pursue the Bellevue man 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.
Lucy’s celebration of life is set for 11 a.m. Saturday at Pleasant Valley Baptist Church in Liberty. The service is open to the public but closed to cameras and the media.
Born on August 11, 2006 — six minutes after Aubrey — Lucy will be remembered as intelligent, athletic and ambitious by her family and friends, according to an obituary shared online.
The Yeates family lived in Colorado from the time Lucy was 3 years old until her sophomore year of high school, according to the obituary. Throughout her childhood, she developed a love for hiking and soccer, as well as a zest for learning, her parents wrote.
“She was discovering the finer things and worked very hard so she could have them,” her obituary read. “She lit up a room with her brilliant, witty and funny self.”
Lucy graduated from Kearney High School in 2023 along with Aubrey and Kole, working at Chik-Fil-A throug the last three years of her studies. At the time of her death, she was a first-year college student, the Yeates family previously shared, with an interest in studying business and leadership.
Lucy is survived by her parents, Sam and Mandy, and her sisters Aubrey, Hailee, Alyx and Josie.
Kole’s funeral took place on Nov. 26 in Kearney. The first-year botany student at Maple Woods Community College was artistic and passionate about music, particularly active in online fan communities supporting Billie Eilish and Adele, parents Tim and Shannon wrote in his obituary.
“[Kole] illuminated his life with unconditional love and support to all those around him,” Kole’s parents Tim and Shannon wrote in his obituary.
Kole is also survived by his twin brother, Kamp, whose college education Tim and Shannon are collecting donations for in honor of Kole’s memory.
A fundraiser on GoFundMe benefiting Aubrey’s recovery has raised more than $26,000, while a fundraiser on Meal Train benefiting the Cunningham family has raised more than $16,000.
Billie Eilish, who performed in Kansas City the night before the crash, shared her sympathies with both families in the comments of an Instagram post from a fan account sharing the GoFundMe.
“Sending so much love to the families. So heartbreaking,” Eilish said on the post.
Previous reporting by Robert A. Cronkleton and Kendrick Calfee contributed to this report.
