Will County Sheriff’s deputies are investigating a motorcycle crash that occurred near Peotone Saturday evening involving the deaths of two men.
Jake Murdock, 23, of Manhattan, was riding his motorcycle west on Wilmington Peotone Road between Center and 88th Avenue when he struck a pedestrian, according to the Will County sheriff’s office. The 2018 Harley-Davidson motorcycle continued traveling west before hitting a mailbox on the north side of the road.
The pedestrian, Ethan Ullrich, 26, of Manteno, and Murdock were both pronounced dead on the scene. Autopsies for both men were scheduled Monday according to the Will County coroner’s office.
According to the sheriff’s office, it is unknown if Murdock was still on the motorcycle when it hit the mailbox or if he was initially still alive or deceased when he was laying in the roadway.
When deputies arrived at the scene, they learned the driver of an SUV struck Murdock’s body in the roadway and had dragged it several feet. The driver, thinking she had struck an animal, continued driving until the car became disabled near I-57 and Sauk Trail, according to the news release.
The Illinois State Police and Will County Sheriff’s deputies spoke with the driver of the SUV, who has not been identified or charged.
Officials also noted in the news release that the area where the accident occurred is a two lane rural road with no streetlights.
