Tragedy strikes in Bureau County with one teen dead and three hurt

A Mendota teenager is dead while three other teens were hurt after a hit and run in Bureau County.

Nineteen-year-old Jacqueline Martinez was pronounced dead Sunday morning at St. Margaret’s Hospital. She was taken there after she was hit by an unknown driver in a rural area of Leepertown Township just before one Sunday morning.

A 17-year-old boy was seriously hurt in the hit and run and was flown to OSF St. Francis Medical Center in Peoria. Two other children were treated and released from St. Margaret’s.

Bureau County Sheriff Jim Reed wants anyone with information to call the sheriff’s office or the Bureau/Putnam County Crime Stoppers.