Photo of Fiery Van Crash on Interstate 80

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Photo of Fiery Van Crash on Interstate 80

By Michelle Long

IOWA CITY - A viewer submitted this photo from the fiery crash that killed the driver of the van on Monday.

Barry Rickard of Cedar Rapids says he took the photo this morning just after the accident happened. He said he was there when the first state trooper arrived on scene.

Police have confirmed the van belonged to Steven Sueppel but have not identified the body. An autopsy is scheduled for Tuesday.

Wednesday, Mar 26 at 3:22 PM babybate wrote ...

What a horrible chain of events. Steve Sueppel just cracked under pressure. He lost his ability to think rational. It's a shame that his poor little family had to endure the blunt of his breaking point! My prayers are with all of the family and friends that knew and loved them.

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Wednesday, Mar 26 at 10:30 AM Outraged wrote ...

The van probably caught ablaze like that Probably when he was trying to off the kids with fumes. I cant imagine what when on that morning. How Scared those kids must have been.

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Wednesday, Mar 26 at 5:03 AM Anonymous wrote ...

I too thought this fire was odd, but after doing some research on this minivan. Turns out under severe impacts the fuel tank on these things can rupture leading to fire, the problem eventually became bad enough for Toyota to issue a recall for the 2004 model year, however the flaw (to a lesser degree) was present from the '98 model year going forward.

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Wednesday, Mar 26 at 12:38 AM angela wrote ...

i feel really bad for the sueppel family there was no reason to take a childs life for a mistake the was made by the father god bless the sueppel survivers ,made god bless you all

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Tuesday, Mar 25 at 10:21 PM respect wrote ...

We can all try to figure out what happened and say this probably happened or that but what we really need to do now is focus on the people in the community and family left behind. They need all the shoulders they can get right now. It is too late for anger. That will not change what has happened...Memories are a beautiful thing lets cherish them all i am sure Steve was not a bad guy just got caught up in something he couldnt get out of.Bless the families and community and especially the EMTS

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Tuesday, Mar 25 at 10:09 PM Barbara wrote ...

I guess I understand stress and all that with his federal charges, but why did he have to take everything out on the family? Those poor innocent kids-to be adopted and come here to a loving family and have it end so tragically. My heart goes out to the families involved. We'll never know why this happened. It's just so sad, so terribly sad.

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Tuesday, Mar 25 at 8:51 PM Anonymous wrote ...

It is very sad to have someone do this, especially in Iowa City. I just feel bad for those children, 3,5,7, and 10. I just can't imagine, they will be in my prayers with out a doubt.

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Tuesday, Mar 25 at 5:58 PM Judy wrote ...

This whole incident is so very sad! I shudder to think what those children went through! Did they know they were going to die? Did they hear their brothers and sisters being murdered? God Bless those little angels! No child should ever endure such pain!

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Tuesday, Mar 25 at 4:39 PM ashley wrote ...

My heart goes out to all those affected by this. clearly this man was suffering, but obviously it is too late to do anything now. suicide watch might have prevented this, but since he was not considered a flight risk then nothing could be done. He was facing 20 years in prison for his job @ Hills (over 500,000 embezzled while VP there) and as we've seen time and again, people do outrageous things to avoid going. Obviously that is what happened here, too bad he didn't take only his life.

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Tuesday, Mar 25 at 4:37 PM matt wrote ...

watch the body in the vehicle not be the suspect. thenthe suspect has a 2-3 day jump on finding him. I know i will see this on tru tv someday

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Tuesday, Mar 25 at 4:16 PM Anonymous wrote ...

did any one ever thank that he had somethng else in there to help start the fire? because there are alot of thing that you can have in your car that will also cause a fire. just something to think about.....

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Tuesday, Mar 25 at 2:18 PM Fire fighter wrote ...

Sure many cars are involved in bad accidents and don't catch fire. But all it takes is the fuel line breaking and a spark from any of the numerous electrical components under the hood to start a fire, not to mention the heat from the motor itself. On the otherhand I have also seen many smaller accidents that have resulted in big fires and bad accidents that have had nothing more than a steaming radiator.

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Tuesday, Mar 25 at 12:50 PM Robby wrote ...

I know cars, and the chances of a car bursting into flames after a collision is VERY unlikely... so i agree, whether it was in the car or not, something caused that fire. Can we rule out an outside source starting it?

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Tuesday, Mar 25 at 12:12 PM Kelly wrote ...

What a horrible chain of events. This is not supposed to happen in Iowa or anywhere for that matter. People need to sort out problems with the help of other family members or professional help before something of this nature happens.

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Tuesday, Mar 25 at 11:41 AM P wrote ...

heartbreaking a very sad sad day. my thoughts and prayers are with the surving family members

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Tuesday, Mar 25 at 10:42 AM Sam Dillon wrote ...

From the looks of that blaze and other pictures of the van, I can only speculate that the driver doused the interior with an accelerant. You read stories and see pictures of head on collisions, and as bad as vehicles are mangled, you very seldom read or hear of the vehicle erupting like that (maybe a small fire under the hood at most.) Thats not to discount a freak chain of things breaking in just the right order to cause that fireball. This van has a good safety record.

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Tuesday, Mar 25 at 6:07 AM Nathan wrote ...

Simply heartbreaking. Whatever answers they find as to why this gentleman did this, nothing will take away from how painful of a story it is. RIP Sueppel family.

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