Coroner Identifies Victims in Two Separate Fatal Crashes

The Sangamon County Coroner’s Office has identified the victims in two separate fatal motor vehicle crashes that occurred in late December and early January.

According to Coroner Jim Allmon, 60-year-old Rhonda Mueller of Springfield died following a motor vehicle crash on December 30. Mueller was pronounced dead at the scene of the incident on Wabash Avenue in Springfield. An autopsy later determined that she died from blunt force injuries sustained in the crash. Her death remains under investigation by the Sangamon County Coroner’s Office.

In a separate incident, the coroner’s office identified 30-year-old Brandon Pond of New Berlin as the victim of a crash that occurred during the early morning hours of January 1. Pond was the driver and sole occupant of a vehicle that left the roadway and crashed near the 17000 block of Lead Line Road in Sangamon County. An autopsy conducted Friday determined that Pond died from multiple blunt force injuries sustained in the crash. That death also remains under investigation.