(Polk County, IA) -- There are new details about a deadly eastern Polk County crash. The Sheriff's Office says two men died when a car went into a ditch off highway 65 and caught fire last weekend. Those killed include the driver, 22-year-old Sean Pattschull of Norwalk and 25-year-old Nicholas Chescher of Fontana, California.
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office says dispatchers started getting calls just after midnight on December 23rd about a vehicle fire near mile marker 81 of Hwy 65, near Pleasant Hill. Law enforcement and Fire Department units arrived on scene and located a silver 2014 Infiniti Q50 in the east ditch of Hwy 65, fully engulfed. Fire units extinguished the fire and two bodies were found.
Witnesses reported before the accident the car was northbound on Hwy 65 and passing other motorists at a high rate of speed. Preliminary investigations indicate the vehicle went off the highway near mile marker 81, hit a tree in the east ditch, and caught fire.
Investigators say excessive speed, wet roads, and fog may have been factors in the crash.