Police are investigating how a man reportedly struck and dragged in a crash on the Dan Ryan Expressway early Saturday ended up dead in a South Side alley almost a mile away.
The man, Earl Tavin, 18, of the 9100 block of S. Cottage Grove Avenue, died following a crash on the Dan Ryan at 69th Street, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office.
Illinois State police responded at 3:21 a.m. to the crash in the northbound lanes of I-94 and found a white Chevrolet van rolled over and abandoned, according to an Illinois State Police District Chicago trooper.
A witness claimed the van and a grey Dodge had possibly been street racing when they collided, and that the Dodge then struck and dragged a person standing outside the van, the trooper said.
State police did not find anyone at the site of the accident, but were notified around 9:30 a.m. by Chicago police that a body matching a description of the person struck was found in a back alley near 63rd Street and Wabash Avenue, the trooper said.
The body was determined to be the same person from the crash, the trooper said, and police are still investigating how the body ended up in the alley -- almost a mile away, maps show.
The grey Dodge fled immediately after the crash, and police were looking for the vehicle Saturday night, the trooper said.
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Illinois State police are investigating and an autopsy to determine the cause of death for Tavin was scheduled for Sunday.
