Two of three people killed in a fiery crash in north suburban Lake County early Wednesday morning have been identified.
The Lake County Coroner's office, using dental records, identified Jon R. McKinney, 30, of the 24600 block of West Lake Shore Drive in Round Lake Beach, and Michael S. Mortensen, 33, of the 34700 block of North Gerberding Avenue in Ingleside, as the driver and a passenger in the crashed vehicle.
A third person who was killed in the crash remained unidentified as of Thursday evening, pending DNA results.
The Fox Lake Fire Department said the accident happened just after 1:30 a.m. on Rollins Road near Fairfield in Ingleside.
A Kia Optima traveling on Rollins Road east of West Lake Shore Drive drove off the roadway, hit a tree and burst into flames.
Police said three people who were in the vehicle at the time of the crash were killed.
The license plates on the vehicle did not belong to the Optima, which made it harder for police to identify the victims, police said.
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The cause of the crash remained under investigation.
"It's just a dangerous curve in the middle of a forest preserve with no lights or anything," said area resident Dave Sterbenz. "The only lines you see are the center line and it's not really that wide at that point, but there have been so many single car crashes there."
Detectives say it's not clear whether speed was a factor and urged drivers to use caution while driving at night.
"At night time you have to use a little more caution, but it's unknown what the reason is this accident happened," said Detective Christopher Covelli with the Lake County Sheriff's office.
