Cause of fiery crash that killed three in Gurnee remains elusive

Authorities identified the three people who died in a car crash early Sunday along Grand Avenue in Gurnee, but investigators have yet to determine what led to the wreck.

Emmanuel Gaiter, 36, of Waukegan; Gregory McClain, 27, of Calumet City; and Javon Stribling, 27, of Zion all died in the crash, Lake County coroner's office Chief Deputy Steve Newton said Wednesday afternoon.

The three men were found by police shortly after 2 a.m. Sunday in a Jeep SUV that was on fire, officials said.

The coroner's office reported Tuesday that the three had died from blunt force injuries and not from the fire.

Gurnee police officer Sean Gaylor said the vehicle was destroyed in the fiery crash and investigators were doing all they could to gather evidence, including trying to retrieve data from the vehicle's computer.

"It might be days until we get the data back from equipment inside the car, and it might be damaged," Gaylor said. "It was certainly a devastating crash and we want answers."

Gaylor said there was not a lot of traffic on the roadways at the time of the crash, so there are few if any witnesses who can provide information to investigators.