Identity Released In Deadly I-80 Pile-up

nsp.state.ne.us, Mar 19, 2007

The Nebraska State Patrol has identified the individual killed in a multi-vehicle pile-up, Monday, February 12, 2007, on Interstate 80, near Hershey, Nebraska. 35-year-old Jody Gordon of Bismarck, North Dakota, was killed in the noon-time crash.

Troopers working the scene say the crash occurred when a westbound semi-trailer truck driven by the fatality, struck the rear of a westbound passenger vehicle. The collision sent both the passenger vehicle and the semi into the median. The semi continued across the median, striking an eastbound semi-trailer truck. The force of the collision caused the eastbound semi to jack-knife. The eastbound semi which was hauling a load of pigs, ended up in the median.

A total of nine vehicles, including five semi-trailer trucks and four passenger cars were involved in a series of chain reaction crashes, caused by the initial accident. The emergency response, clean-up and investigation of the crash closed the eastbound lanes of I-80 from the Sutherland Interchange to the North Platte Interchange for approximately nine hours. Weather is believed to have played a factor in the crash. Heavy snowfall and icy conditions were reported at the time.