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Dump truck driver runs from crash scene and is found dead a day later, IL cops say

A dump truck driver was found dead a day after he fled the scene of a crash, Illinois deputies said.
A dump truck driver was found dead a day after he fled the scene of a crash, Illinois deputies said. Screengrab from Oaks-Hines Funeral Home website

A dump truck driver ran from a crash scene while abandoning his vehicle in a ditch and was found dead a day later, Illinois deputies said.

Witnesses watched the man flee the Hanna City scene on March 21, but deputies couldn’t find the driver, the Peoria County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.

The following day, nearly four hours later at around 2:30 a.m., a local business called deputies and said it found a person not breathing behind its dumpsters, deputies said.

The person was identified as the dump truck driver, 39-year-old Keith Siegel, according to the news release.

Investigators reviewed camera footage and believe the man fell from a retaining wall and hit his head, according to deputies.

Siegel was pronounced dead at the scene.

The man from Elmwood is remembered as a “loving husband and father,” according to his obituary.

“When not spending time with his family, he spent most of his time at Peoria Speedway or working on his B-Mod car,” Siegel’s obituary said. “He was a two-time points Champion, securing multiple feature wins in his career.”

The incident remains under investigation, and an autopsy is scheduled, officials said.

Hanna City is about a 180-mile drive southwest from Chicago.

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This story was originally published March 24, 2025 at 8:44 AM with the headline "Dump truck driver runs from crash scene and is found dead a day later, IL cops say."

Kate Linderman
mcclatchy-newsroom
Kate Linderman covers national news for McClatchy’s real-time team. She reports on politics and crime and courts news in the Midwest. Kate is a 2023 graduate of DePaul University and is based in Chicago.
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