(WICHITA, Kan.) — Wichita police say they believe alcohol was a factor in a crash that killed a Wichita State University student Sunday.
Kari Rinehart from South Haven died in the crash at 29th and Woodlawn. Police say a driver swerved, sideswiped another car, before hitting Rinehart's car head-on. Rinehart's twin sister and her roommate were also hurt in the accident.
Wednesday investigators said they found evidence that alcohol may have been a factor in the crash; they would not elaborate on what that evidence.
Investigators say they are waiting on results from toxicology tests to determine whether charges will be filed.
The 36-year-old driver police say caused the crash remains in the hospital with a broken leg.
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7/26/2010
South Haven, Kansas. "Everybody knows everybody around here," said resident Brad Ingram.
The Sumner County town of fewer than 400 people sits three miles north of the Oklahoma border. It is the place Kari and Kati Rinehart grew up.
For a town with one paved road and a slow way of life, news moves much quicker than traffic.
Ingram recounted how he heard that Kari Rinehart was killed in a car crash.
"And I said, 'are you serious Mom?'" He drew a ragged breath, then continued. "'Kari's dead?' And she said 'yeah'."
For some, like Ingram, Monday moved too fast. "It still just kind of seems (like it was ) all a dream. It doesn't seem like it's real right now."
Ingram looked at his friend across the room. "We're just waiting for something to wake us up, jar us from sleep."
He paused, and continued, "Or, we want it to not be real."
Police say Kari died at the scene -- at a place much different than her hometown. Police say a driver hit Rinehart on Woodlawn and 29th as Kari drove the car she shared with her sister Kati since they were 16.
"There were a lot of ways they were different," remembered Ingram. "Even though they looked alike, they were totally two different people."
However different, fiends say the two were almost always together. "They were always smiling," said Ingram with a sad smile of his own.
They graduated from Cowley College together, and enrolled in the dental hygiene program at Wichita State together. Friends say they were rarely apart, until now.
