Matthew Frank
11/09/1989 ~ 02/11/2007

The afternoon on 2/10/2007 started when a teenage brother and sister left home with some friends and went to the Parkside Bowling Alley. Nothing was going on, so police said they drove over to the local movie theater.

"They didn't know what they were going to do at that point," said Det. John Mall.

So, the teens went to McDonalds to figure it out. One of the teens left to go pick up some friends around Oswego and they returned to the restaurant. Authorities said someone in the group had alcohol and that they shared it with some of the others.

"At that point one of the individuals had found out about a party from a co-worker of his and they decided they would attend this party," said Detective Mall.

There were 10 teenagers -- but only one car, a Chevy Malibu owned by the brother and sister. It only had room for five.

"Nine people got inside the compartment of the car and at least one or possibly two got into the trunk of the vehicle," said Mall.

"That's definitely a red flag, riding in the trunk of a car, piling in ten people in a Chevy Malibu," said Chief Dwight Baird, Oswego Police Dept.

They made it to the house in Montgomery for the party. Sandra Vasquez, 23, of Aurora, was at the party. She worked with one of the teenagers and had invited them to the party, which was held at the home of Vasquez' aunt. Oswego's police chief said witnesses told them beer, hard liquor and marijuana were available at the party.

Shortly after arriving, the brother and sister who had driven their teenage friends to the party went home.

"They had to be home at 11:30. They were fairly close to the party. They had to be home and it sounds like their parents were strict on them: 'You need to be home at this time and if you are not the consequences will be.' So obviously those children took their parents seriously and looks like maybe it saved their life," said Chief Baird.

The teens who were left behind at the party weren't as lucky. Katie Merkel, 14; James McGee, 14; Jessica Nutoni, 15; Tiffany Urso, 16; and Matthew Frank, 17, were killed in a crash early Sunday morning after packing into Vasquez's car. She lost control of the vehicle and hit a utility pole. Three other teenagers survived. Josh Dillon, who broke his femur in the crash, spoke at a fundraiser last week.

"I thank the Lord every day that I've been blessed to stay here. So, I mean, I feel bad for the ones who lost their lives. But I feel grateful I was able to stay," said Dillon.

Neither Dillon nor the two other injured teenagers will be charged in the case, according to Kendall County's prosecutor.

"There is not a whole lot more that I can do from the criminal justice side that will do more than they have been through. Anyone else at the party, they are fair game. Anyone who provided the alcohol, they are fair game," said Kendall County State's Attorney Eric Weis.

Oswego police said they enforce a curfew that mirror's the state law: anyone under 18 has to be off the streets by midnight on weekends. When midnight came on that Saturday last February detectives said the teenagers were inside partying. At 2 a.m., when they piled into Vasquez's car, police said nobody saw them. It wasn't until after the crash when paramedics arrived that they knew what had happened.

Vasquez faces 18 counts of aggravated DUI and 5 counts of reckless homicide. Additional charges are not expected against her, but could be filed against others. The investigation remains open.