Kansas City, Kansas Police Department responded to a fatal single-car accident on 55th Street and Freeman Avenue on Friday night.
A vehicle went off the road and hit an embankment in a residential area around 1 a.m., officials said. A passerby alerted them to the crash.
KCK police said a man and woman died at the scene, and they had to be extricated from the vehicle. The victims were later identified as Erica L. Cortez, 47, and Howard C. Levite, 65, both Leavenworth, Kansas residents.
According to the preliminary investigation, the vehicle was traveling at a high rate of speed, hit a tree stump and caught on fire.
-----
Sarah Plake can be reached at sarah.plake@kshb.com.
