DIVERNON, Ill. — A seventh person has died from injuries suffered during Monday's deadly crash during a dust storm along I-55 in central Illinois.

What You Need To Know

  • Seven people have died in a crash during a dust storm in central Illinois Monday

  • Officials are asking for help to identify at least two of the victims

  • The crashes happened during a dust storm. Investigators say they will “follow the facts” and look at the surrounding area, which is mostly flat farm fields, to see if there is any helpful information they can gather

The Illinois State Police (ISP) say the severity of the crash masked the remains of the seventh body and what was previously believed to be one individual was actually two.

The Montgomery County coroner is working to confirm the identity of the victims. Police have confirmed one victim is 88-year-old Shirley Harper from Franklin, Wis. Officials believe they have tentatively identified three other victims.

Tuesday, ISP asked for the public’s help in identifying two of the drivers killed.

ISP Director Brendan Kelly says investigators need information from witnesses, family, friends and the public to help learn their identities. 

He explained there is only general information right now because the vehicles were heavily damaged in the crash. 

One of the victims was driving a blue Chrysler 300. The other victim was in a Hyundai, but investigators can not yet determine the color. 

Kelly said there were at least 72 vehicles involved in the crash and at least 37 reported injuries. He explained more vehicles may have been damaged in the crash but the drivers were able to leave the scene safely. 

The wrecks happened as high winds blew dust from farm fields across the interstate, creating poor visibility around 11:00 a.m. Monday. 

He was questioned about an investigation into what caused the crash.  The director said his agency will “follow the facts” and look at the surrounding area, which is mostly flat farm fields, to see if there is any helpful information they can gather.

“We have a lot of science that has to be done to see what we can determine,” Kelly said.

Farmers in central Illinois, including Montgomery County, where the crashes occurred, are tilling fields and planting corn and soybeans, the region's chief crops, said Emerson Nafziger, a professor emeritus in the Department of Crop Sciences at the University of Illinois’ Urbana-Champaign campus.

Much of central Illinois has received little rain in recent weeks, he said, and cropland that is normally wet this time of the year is dry — and with farmers active in their fields, high winds can easily send dust airborne.

“It just has to dry the top surface, a quarter-inch of soil, and then there’s a huge amount to blow around," Nafziger said. "In this case, a lot of fields have been tilled, some have been planted, but the tillage process and even spreading fertilizer will put up a fair amount of dust.”

Kelly was asked if his office would consider criminal charges relating to the incident, and he said they were far away from that possibility. 

“It does not benefit a farmer to lose a bunch of topsoil, so they have no motivation to do something that would cause this,” Kelly said. 

When questioned if the conditions made it necessary to shut down the interstate prior to the crash, Kelly commented “there was no reason to believe the interstate should have been shut down preemptively.”

The National Weather Service issued a Blowing Dust Warning following the crash and warned drivers the strong winds could last through Tuesday and urged caution. Kelly also said the Illinois Department of Transportation has updated some road signs to make drivers aware of the conditions.