Vigil Honoring Amber Knowles, Pedestrian Fatally Struck by Truck in Gurnee on Delany Road

GURNEE, Ill. (WLS) — A vigil was held Friday for a 33-year-old woman who was fatally struck in north suburban Gurnee Wednesday night.

Relatives said the woman who was killed would help anyone in need and was studying to be a counselor, but those dreams ended Wednesday night in a blur of traffic.

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Authorities responded to the scene at about 8:04 p.m. Wednesday to the 2100 block of North Delany Road in Gurnee.

Police said the woman was crossing Delany Road, where there’s no light or crosswalk, when she was hit by a truck.

The woman was found unresponsive and pronounced dead at the scene, police said. She was identified to the Lake County Coroner’s Office as 33-year-old Amber Knowles.

Along the busy suburban road, a family poured out its heart Friday night at a memorial for Amber Knowles near the place where she drew her last breath.

“I can’t even begin to imagine that this has happened,” Knowles’ sister Christina Kalter said. “It’s still not even real to me. I just talked to her.”

Relatives say she lived about a mile away from where she was struck, but it’s unclear why she was there.

“She’d light up the room everywhere,” Knowles’ sister Ashley Kalter said. “She had so many, so many people that love her, and you know, we’re all here for her.”

Police say the driver of the Ford E450 truck did not immediately stop after hitting Knowles but did return to the scene.

“So it’s not a hit and run crash, but instead had pulled off the roadway to a nearby business and realized that they had hit something and went back to the scene to speak with investigators about it,” Gurnee Police Department Det. Shawn Gaylor said.

“There’s still so many questions, and I wish we got more answers,” Ashley Kalter said.

Relatives said Knowles was the life of every gathering, was kind and nurturing, and she was in school studying to be a drug and alcohol counselor.

“She wanted to see people happy,” Amber Knowles’ sister Joslyn Knowles said. “She wanted to take pictures. She wanted to see everyone happy, and this is, this is devastating.”

The Lake County Major Crash Assistance Team is helping in this ongoing investigation. Police said no charges have been filed, and the driver who struck Knowles is cooperating.