Coroner ID’s Chillicothe man who died in a wreck Friday

Posted on January 27, 2025
The crash remains under investigation. (Photo courtesy: WJBC/File)

By WMBD TV

PEORIA – Peoria County Coroner Jamie Harwood identified the 33-year-old man who died in a crash in Chillicothe.

Matthew Burke of Chillicothe was transported to OSF HealthCare Saint Francis Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead following a crash on Friday night. Harwood said in a Facebook post.

Burke sustained many blunt force injuries from the single-car wreck and was unconscious, was not breathing and had no pulse. He was pronounced dead at 2:50 p.m. just under an hour after 911 was first called, he said.

Peoria County Sheriff Chris Watkins said deputies initially responded to the crash at about 2:01 p.m. When they arrived on the scene, they saw what appeared to be a vehicle that lost control, left the roadway and crashed into a tree.

Watkins said that the vehicle was going westbound on Cloverdale Road at the time of the crash, and speed appears to be a factor.

The cause of the wreck is still under investigation.

WMBD can be reached at [email protected].

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