Darien Fatal Crash Victims Went Undiscovered For 14 Hours: Report

DARIEN, IL — Just as the sun was rising Sept. 27, a woman saw something suspicious along an expressway ramp in Darien — a motorcycle in a ditch.

She told her husband, who was driving to work. He told her to check the area when she returned, according to a police report obtained by Patch.

The woman, in her mid-20s, did just that. She noticed two people lying next to the motorcycle and called 911, but she did not approach the people. The man and woman were in the ditch between North Frontage Road and the Cass Avenue ramp to southbound Interstate 55.

The woman, Laura Bala, 57, of Cicero, was pronounced dead shortly afterward. The man, Ronald Circelli, 57, of Cicero, died a few days later.

When officers arrived, Circelli could speak, but was unable to move. Circelli told them he had crashed the motorcycle the previous day, according to the report.

Earlier in the morning, Circelli's family alerted the Cicero and Darien police departments that they believed he was missing. His family had used an iPhone application to find Circelli's location, and it showed he was at the Millers Building at 8404 Wilmette Ave., about a quarter mile away from the crash site. Darien police checked the location for Circelli, but were unsuccessful, given the distance.

Police got access to Circelli's phone and found the couple were at VFW Post 5819 in Lemont the previous afternoon. From a selfie, they appeared to be in a bar, police said.

They were at the post from about 4 p.m. to 5 p.m., according to the report. Then they were later tracked at the Circle K gas station at 8975 Lemont Road in Darien, according to the police report.

Then the location data went stagnant in the area near the accident site starting about 5 p.m., an hour and a half before sunset, the report said. Given that information, it appeared Circelli and Bala went undiscovered for 14 hours. Police believe the couple were traveling east on North Frontage Road when the motorcycle left the roadway through a fence and down an embankment.

At a recent Darien City Council meeting, an alderwoman expressed concern about a fence that is often down near the site of the crash. It is a state road.