Guadalupe Almendarez was 95 years old when a routine ride ended her life on Chicago’s Lower West Side. She sat as a passenger in a gray sedan heading west on 18th Street. The car slammed into the back of a black truck stopped at a red light. That truck then smashed into a silver car waiting at the same light.
The crash happened just after 5:15 p.m. Wednesday in the 1900 block of West 18th Street. Guadalupe took heavy injuries right away. Crews rushed her to Stroger Hospital. Doctors there pronounced her dead at 7:54 p.m.
She lived in Chicago’s Clearing neighborhood. No one else in the three vehicles got hurt. The gray sedan, the black truck, and the silver car all stayed on the scene after the pile-up.
Chicago police Major Accidents Investigation Unit is looking into every detail of the wreck. Officers want to know exactly how the sedan hit the truck so hard. Traffic lights and road conditions form part of the check.
Ninety-five years is a long stretch of life. Guadalupe made it through nearly a full century before this sudden stop on a city street. Her family now faces the hard work of saying goodbye.
The Lower West Side stays busy with cars every evening. This crash cut through that normal flow and took one life. Investigators keep working the case with no arrests yet.
Friends and neighbors will remember Guadalupe for the years she spent in Clearing. The crash left a quiet gap where her days used to be.
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