Motorcyclist Dies, Run Over by Trailer on I-57

A motorcyclist who was reportedly riding in front of a fellow biker on the Interstate Thursday night was killed after crashing into a truck that had an attached trailer.

Sherri Berchem, 55, of Lowell, Ind., was pronounced dead at the scene, said a representative with the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office. The crash occurred around 5:15 p.m. on the Interstate-57 ramp, just south of the I-80 overpass, according to the Illinois State Police. 

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Berchem reportedly drifted too far in her lane and struck a pickup truck, police said. 

"That truck had a trailer it was towing and as she hit the ground, she was run over by the trailer part of it," said a phone operator with the Illinois State Police, who declined to give additional details without the report on hand.

Todd Sherman, 39, of the independent news source, Northern Illinois FireGround, was on scene within minutes of the crash.

"When I got there, there was a nurse tending to the woman," he said, adding that she wasn't wearing a helmet. "She had severe head trauma, severe chest trauma. ... a state police crime technician was holding a blanket up so traffic couldn't see the victim laying there."

Oak Forest and Posen paramedics responded to the scene, which was near the Oak Forest-Matteson border. The woman's friend, who was riding near Berchem on a second motorcycle was on the scene, uninjured.

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