Two Springfield residents died in a crash with a semi truck on Interstate 70 near Greenville Wednesday afternoon, according to the Illinois State Police.
The driver was identified as 44-year-old Sherry Marie Dennis. A passenger in her car, Robert E. Hamilton, 44, of Springfield, also was killed.
The tractor-trailer driver, Jay L. Lewis, 46, of Akron, Ind., suffered minor injuries and was treated at Greenville Regional Hospital.
The crash happened about 3:50 p.m. in the westbound lanes of I-70 at milepost 39 near Greenville in Bond County.
Dennis was driving eastbound in a 1995 Pontiac Grand Prix SE and lost control of the car for some reason. The car went through the tall grassy median into the westbound lanes. At the same moment, Lewis, who was westbound, had just moved into the passing lane to go around another semi in the right lane. He did not see the Pontiac because of the tall grass and small trees on a down slope curve until the car went under his wheels, police said.
The westbound lanes of I-70 were closed for five and a half hours while crash reconstructionist officers investigated and police cleared the wreckage.
The investigation is ongoing, and no tickets were issued.
The State Journal- Registar
www.SR-J.com
THursday, May 2, 2011 9:48 a.m.