SANDUSKY, Ohio — Ohio State Highway Patrol says the investigation into the 48-vehicle pileup on the Ohio Turnpike during the Holiday blizzard will not be a quick one.
The agency is now in charge and is looking into what lead to the crash that left 62 people hurt and four dead.
“The message to anyone that was negatively impacted is we are going to do a very thorough job in investigating this to try to get folks the answers that not only they want but what they deserve,” said Ohio State Highway Patrol Sergeant Ray Santiago.
Right now, Sergeant Ray Santiago says the crash is under investigation as the Ohio State Highway Patrol sorts through data to determine its exact cause.
“It's hard to say when we'll ever find this out. There's a lot to peel back here due to the weather conditions, prior to and during there was a lot of evidence that normally we would be able to look for and evaluate,” said Santiago.
But due to circumstances out of investigators' control, some of the typical clues simply are not there.
“There was extremely ice- and snow-covered roadways so the presence of things such as skid marks or gauges in the concrete/pavement simply aren't there,” said Santiago.
Still, Santiago says they are committed to completing the job, even if it comes with challenges.
“We take that very serious, and we're going to be thorough in that investigation,” said Santiago. “It's a lot of work but we need to be very detailed in how we do that, very thorough and this process unfortunately is going to take some time.”
RELATED: 4 killed in 50-car pileup on Ohio Turnpike near Sandusky
Shocking images circulating on social media showed the disastrous pileup of dozens of vehicles on the Ohio Turnpike near Sandusky amid a severe winter storm causing icy roads and low visibility due to snow blowing in blizzard-strength winds. Watch more in the player below:
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