Investigation continues into family's death
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<p align="justify">Candles burned outside Hamilton Elementary School on Monday as the shock of a tragedy involving a family connected to two Hancock County school districts began to sink in.
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<p align="justify">All four members of a rural Carthage family were found dead Sunday morning in a car partially submerged in a small lake near a Hamilton golf course. Rescue workers found Kevin Elliott, 38; Tasha Elliott, 36; Wyatt Elliott, 11 and Madison Elliott, 7.
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<p align="justify">Tasha Elliott was the principal of the Hamilton Elementary School. Her husband was a mechanic and ran a high performance engine shop from their rural Carthage home.
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<p align="justify">Hancock County Coroner Kendall Beals said autopsies will be conducted today in Springfield. An inquest will be held at a later date.
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<p align="justify">Illinois State Police Operations Lt. Harry Douglas said Monday the family was last seen at about 11 p.m. Friday, but he wasn't sure where they had been before the crash.
<p align="justify">The accident was called in at 9:05 a.m. Sunday when a passer-by spotted the family's car upside down, partially submerged and sticking out of the ice just off Deer Run Trail.
<p align="justify">State police are reconstructing how the accident happened.
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<p align="justify">Hamilton Superintendent Dr. Jim Jackson said after he was notified of the accident he began making telephone calls almost immediately.
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<p align="justify">"Word travels fast," he said. "It's hard in a small town of 3,100 people."
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<p align="justify">A candlelight vigil, made up mostly of students and their parents, was held Sunday night at the school.
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<p align="justify">On Monday morning a variety of candles, some still burning, sat clustered beside one of the school's doors. Some parents had painted messages on the glass, including "Our kids love you."
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<p align="justify">Jackson said some students who arrived at school Monday hadn't yet heard the news.
<p align="justify">A team including counselors and ministers were called in to help children deal with the news, and Jackson said they will be there as long as they're needed.
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<p align="justify">"It's just so sudden and tragic for everyone to understand," he said.
<p align="justify">Tasha Elliott taught fifth grade at the school for 11 years before becoming principal about three years ago.
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<p align="justify">"She was truly an educational leader," Jackson said. "She worked closely with the staff, and they're really struggling. In a small school district like this you touch everyone's life, and she certainly did as a teacher and principal."
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<p align="justify">Carthage Superintendent Vicki Hardy said counselors had also been called in to the district's primary and middle schools, where Wyatt was a sixth-grader and his sister, Madison, was a second-grader.
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<p align="justify">Hardy said she lives just a few miles from the Elliott family's home.
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<p align="justify">"They were the outdoor types," she said of Madison and Wyatt. "They were always outside playing. They were good kids, good students and a good family."
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<p align="justify">Funeral arrangements for the family had not been released Monday.
<p align="center">Reach Journal Star reporter Jodi Pospeschil at (309) 686-3041 or state@pjstar.com.