Investigation into crash that killed Bethalto couple, 12-year-old son will take weeks
Investigations into a crash that killed a Bethalto couple and their 12-year-old son could take weeks, a Madison County Sheriff’s Department official said Monday.
Sheriff’s Department Chief of Detectives David Vucich said authorities have no further detailed information to release about Friday’s accident at this time.
Vucich said relatives of John A. Cafazza, 55; Melissa R. Cafazza, 52; and their son Dominic J. Cafazza, 12, are eager for answers. He said the sheriff’s department is working diligently on toxicology reports, autopsies and an accident reconstruction investigation. The department is working with the county coroners’ office and the Metro East Crash Assistance Team.
A visitation for the Cafazza family is scheduled for Tuesday at Civic Memorial high School gymnasium in Bethalto, and a funeral mass will be held Wednesday at Holy Angels Catholic Church in Wood River.
Vucich could not provide additional information on the 18-year-old driver of the other vehicle who was taken to a St. Louis hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. His name has not been released.
Authorities: Other driver failed to stop at stop sign
According to Madison County Coroner Stephen P. Nonn’s office, John Cafazza was driving a BMW 595I on Friday evening and came to a stop at the intersection of Bethalto Road and McCoy Road in Foster Township.
Witnesses said a 2003 GMC Sierra was going east at a “high rate of speed” on McCoy Road and failed to stop at the stop sign at the intersection, according to Nonn.
The GMC collided with the driver’s side of the BMW, which was attempting to make a left turn onto McCoy Road from Bethalto Road, Nonn said.
The Cafazza family was pronounced dead at the scene by a coroner’s investigator.