Latest Deadly Crash On I-55: Motorist, 69, Strikes Tree And Dies

BRAIDWOOD —Grundy County Coroner John Callahan announced that his office, along with Illinois State Police Troop 3, are investigating a traffic fatality that claimed the life of a 69-year-old Missouri man. The single-vehicle crash occurred on Friday at 10:48 p.m., on northbound Interstate 55 at Mile Marker 227, just north of Gardner.

The coroner said that David E. Murphy, a resident of Hollister, Missouri, and his two passengers were traveling northbound on Interstate 55, when the vehicle left the roadway and traveled approximately 150 feet through a ditch, before striking a tree.

Murphy was pronounced dead at the scene by the Coroner’s Office at 12:16 a.m. Saturday.

The incident remains under investigation by the Coroner’s Office and Illinois State Police. Gardner Fire Protection District, Braceville Fire Protection District, Braidwood Fire Protection District and Grundy County Sheriff's Office assisted at the scene, the coroner noted.