Illinois State Police seek public’s help in identifying 2 victims of I-55 pileup that killed 7 during dust storm
DIVERNON, Ill. — The death toll for Monday's multivehicle pileup on Interstate 55 has risen from six to seven, according to a Tuesday news release by Illinois State Police.
According to police, “The severity of the crash masked the remains and what was previously believed to be the remains of one individual was two.”
A 2-mile stretch of Interstate 55 outside Springfield reopened briefly Tuesday morning after a dust storm the day before led to crashes that involved approximately 72 vehicles. Tuesday afternoon, state police and the Illinois Department of Transportation issued a statement saying that, “in an abundance of caution,” I-55 had been closed between mileposts 63 and 82 “due to extreme winds creating low visibility and dangerous driving conditions.”
State police had only general information about the unidentified victims, saying one was found in a blue Chrysler 300. But the car was so badly damaged, the registration information has not been determined, state police Director Brendan Kelly said.
The second unidentified victim was found in a Hyundai, but Kelly couldn’t provide further specifics on the vehicle. Both victims are believed to be adults.
Speaking at a news conference south of Springfield, Kelly said only one of the six fatalities has been positively identified, 88-year-old Shirley Harper, of Franklin, Wisconsin.
Kelly said authorities had tentative identifications on three of the other deceased victims but weren’t ready to release them. As for the two who were unidentified, Kelly urged the public to call a tip line, 618-346-3653, with any information.
“We’re needing information from the public or potentially from family members or from witnesses or anybody who may know anything about the identities of these two individuals,” Kelly said against the backdrop of several damaged semitrailer trucks that had been brought to a vacant lot from the crash site.
The crashes left more than 70 vehicles damaged and shut down northbound and southbound lanes of I-55 from Monday afternoon until about 6 a.m. Tuesday. At least 37 people were taken to area hospitals for treatment. The survivors’ injuries ranged from minor to life-threatening, officials have said.
According to state police, many of the vehicles involved in the crashes will be released starting Wednesday at 8 a.m. Those traveling south on I-55 before the crash may arrange vehicle pickup by calling 217-685-4354. Those who were traveling north can arrange vehicle pickup by calling 618-346-3653. Not all of the vehicles traveling north Monday will be released.
Even people whose vehicles will be retrieved by a tow service must abide by these instructions, according to state police, since they have to provide additional information to officials. This includes a driver’s license, insurance, passenger information and phone number, which can be given to officers at the ISP Command Vehicle located at the intersection of Brown and Henrietta in Divernon.
On Tuesday morning, a digital highway sign along I-55 on the outskirts of Springfield read, “WATCH FOR HIGH WINDS AND BLOWING DUST.” Later in the day, part of the highway was closed again. It was reopened Tuesday evening after winds had diminished.
It wasn’t clear what, if any, warning was given to motorists on Monday about the severity of the dust storm and how much visibility would be reduced.
A spokesman for the Illinois Department of Transportation referred all questions to the state police.
Joseph Gasparich, a deputy director for the Montgomery County Emergency Management Agency, said his agency was aware only of high winds in the area around the time of the crashes, but not an imminent dust storm.
Winds at the time of the accident were gusting at 35 to 45 mph, according to the National Weather Service.
Kelly said some warnings about the dust storm “came after some of the accidents that occurred yesterday.”
“Now, we are certainly looking at the timeline for what the weather warnings were,” he said.
“I don’t think we have any evidence at this point that there was any reason to have shut the road down” before Monday’s crashes, Kelly said. “It is a pretty extreme thing to shut a road down. We do that during blizzards. We do that when we have hazmat or circumstances like this, and the parameters for shutting a road down are not always predictable, in a sense.”
“Certainly, dust storms happen,” Kelly said. “But it is not something that happens every day here in this part of Illinois, or in any part of Illinois.”
Kelly said his investigators were still in the early process of trying to reconstruct the crash. Asked about reports that some in the local farming community thought the crashes could have been avoided if different farming techniques were used, Kelly said investigators were trying to figure out where the dust was coming from immediately prior to the crashes.
“There’s many different types of agricultural techniques that are used in terms of plowing a field. It’s a whole host of factors that go into how that process works, and the timing, it does not benefit a farmer to lose a bunch of their top soil, so they have no motivation or no reason that they would want to do something that would cause this in any way,” Kelly said.
Without referring specifically to what happened Monday, Kelly said speed is often a factor in collisions.
“If you get a condition where it’s (a) blackout, you can’t see anything, the safest speed is like no speed, basically,” Kelly said. “And what we would tell people if they find themselves suddenly in this condition, and whether it’s dust or whether it’s weather or it’s rain or it’s a tornado, whatever the case may be, slow down. That is always the best advice.”
“If you can safely get off the interstate, do so. Whatever you do, do not just stop right in the middle of the interstate. OK, don’t just pump the brakes and come to a halt. Try to get off the roadway in any way that you can safely,” Kelly said.
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(Chicago Tribune’s Adriana Pérez contributed to this report.)
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