Eyewitness: Van driver 'had a mission in mind'

Eyewitness: Van driver 'had a mission in mind'

West Branch Tracey Holdorf, 47, of Bennett, saw the minivan crash in which police suspect Steven F. Sueppel of Iowa City died.

"I've never seen anything like that," she told GazetteOnline. "He (the driver) evidently had a mission in mind."

Police hope to confirm Sueppel's identity in an autopsy Tuesday.

Holdorf, who works with Heartland Express in North Liberty in the driver communications department, said she westbound on Interstate 80 at about 6:30 a.m. Monday. It is a commute she makes every day, but Monday she decided to go in early to catch up on some work.

At the West Branch exit, Holdorf got into the left lane to let a van merge onto I-80. Holdorf said the van was "charging down the on-ramp". Once the van pulled ahead, she slowed down and got behind a semi-trailer truck, letting the van go ahead.

Holdorf said the van continued on, then out of nowhere ran head on into the concrete support of the electronic sign board above the highway. She said the van turned into the support. It flew into the air, hit the bottom of the sign, bounced a little bit and came to a rest at a different angle.

Immediately, the hood burst into flames, she said.

Both Holdorf and the semi-trailer truck driver pulled over. Holdorf called 911. She said by the time pedestrians going east stopped to help she could hear the van exploding, with four pops as the flames shot higher. Two men who had stopped tried continually to get to the driver in the van but could not because of the flames and explosions.

"I wondered if they (the driver) fell asleep," Holdorf said. She didn't know at that point the circumstances surrounding the accident. She said police and fire officials arrived 15 to 20 minutes later.

Holdorf said she was "shaking like a leaf" as she tried to call 911. She tried to stay calm, but said a million things were running through her mind at the time, including the fact that all she wanted at that time was help and a fire truck to come.