Funeral for 2 BNHS Students Killed in Car Crash Moved to School Gym; Students Return for First Day After Crash

Updated: 8:22 PM Feb 27, 2012

Funeral for 2 BNHS Students Killed in Car Crash Moved to School Gym; Students Return for First Day After Crash

Students across the Stateline are uniting to remember two Belvidere North High School cheerleaders killed in a car accident on the way to a home basketball game Friday .

Posted: 4:54 PM Feb 27, 2012

Reporter: Whitney Martin, Dan Stone,Faran Fronczak

BELVIDERE (WIFR) -- Students across the Stateline are uniting to remember two Belvidere North High School cheerleaders killed in a car accident on the way to a home basketball game Friday .

We’ve had hundreds of comments on this story on our WIFR TV Facebook page.

Today was the first day back at school since the accident.

Funeral and Visitation

The visitation and funeral service for Brenda Gutierrez and Thalia Arredondo has been changed to the Belvidere North High School Gymnasium.

The visitation hours for both remain at 2 to 8pm on Wednesday Feb. 29.

The Liturgy of Christian Burial Remains the same for both—10:30am, on Mar. 1.

Burial will be following at Belvidere Cemetery.

Belvidere North High School has its flag at half mast in mourning of its juniors Brenda Gutierrez and Thalia Arredondo.

The 16-year-old Belvidere North cheerleaders died in a car crash Friday night on Rt.76 in Belvidere. Family, friends, classmates, and the community mourn the loss with a memorial at the crash site. Visitors gathered to pray and leave posters, teddy bears and flowers.

Friends and classmates describe Gutierrez and Arredono as genuine and positive--saying their smiles were contagious.

Belvidere North High School has extra counseling on staff today, including therapy dogs.

The investigation is still ongoing and the cause of the crash is unknown.

Other schools in the surrounding areas, including Sycamore and Belvidere High School, have sent flowers as donations to the school.

The whole community has come together in wake of this crash. We're told Belvidere High School's cheer team will be cheering at tonight’s Belvidere North basketball game.

BELVIDERE (WIFR) -- Icy roads and blowing snow created unfavorable driving conditions across the stateline Friday night, including on Route 76 in Belvidere. That's where 16-year-old Belvidere North students Brenda Gutierrez and Thalia Arredondo lost their lives in a car crash. Police believe slick roads may be to blame in the accident that's shaken the entire community.

Belvidere North principal Marc Eckmann says, "We lost two very important members of our student body and our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of our students, the student body and our entire community."

According to police, around 5:30 Friday night, Gutierrez and Arredondo were driving a Chevy Cavalier when the driver lost control of the vehicle, sliding into oncoming traffic, before hitting a SUV. As news quickly spread of the accident where both girls were pronounced dead at the scene, surrounding communities came together in memory of the two Belvidere North cheerleaders.

"The outpouring of support has been tremendous. I've received e-mails from other principals, I know other schools are interested in doing whatever they can”, says Eckmann.

Several students and staff members made their way to the high school this morning, meeting with counselors to talk about the accident, something that counselors like Kevin Polky of KP Counseling believes can be helpful in the grieving process.

"The biggest thing is we just want to be able to be there for them, to be able to hear where they're at. A lot of times they can be going through moments of disbelief, ‘how is this happening? I just saw them’”, says Polky.

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BELVIDERE (WIFR) -- The Boone County Coroner says 16-year-old Brenda Y. Gutierrez of Poplar Grove and 16-year-old Thalia C. Arredondo of Loves Park died in a car crash yesterday evening.

Preliminary autopsy results show both girls died from chest and abdominal trauma.

A car crash on Rt. 76 just south of Caledonia Rd. has claimed the lives of two Belvidere North students.

We are told by students that the two girls were on the school's cheer leading team and were on their way to the basketball game tonight.

Both the driver and passenger were pronounced dead at the scene.

Police say the two girls were driving a Chevy Cavalier southbound on Rt. 76 when thee driver lost control. The Cavalier went into the north bound lane and struck a Chevy SUV. Police believe that the weather caused adverse road conditions that lead to the crash, but they are still investigating.

The four occupants of the SUV were all treated for non-life threatening injuries.

The cause of the crash is still under investigation.

Latest Comments

Posted by: PM Location: Roscoe on Feb 26, 2012 at 09:59 AM

Seriously? Have you people lost your minds? Do you people have any empathy? Do you people know that life is precious and it could be taken away in seconds?Give these girls the dignity and respect they deserve. Let them REST IN PEACE! Let their families mourn the loss of their daughters!

Posted by: Concerned Location: Rockford on Feb 26, 2012 at 09:33 AM

So very sad, prayers to the families of these girls. That was a awesome video on u-tube...they probably wouldn't have wanted it any other way than to leave this earth together! People are cruel and say cruel things. The fact of the matter is, they had a terrible accident and passed away, end of story...no need to try to figure out why and whose fault. Rest In Peace girls!

Posted by: Anonymous Location: Belvidere on Feb 26, 2012 at 08:44 AM

For all your information its not up to the county to take care of a STATE rd. So if your going to do the blame game at least know what your talking about.