A man was found dead in the inside lane of eastbound Interstate 80 in Poweshiek County, Iowa, on Saturday evening after a driver called 911 to say he believed he had hit a pedestrian, according to the Poweshiek County Sheriff's Office. The Iowa State Patrol's crash report says the man was struck by two vehicles near Brooklyn.

The call came in at about 6:09 p.m. on Saturday, November 14, 2026. The driver told dispatchers he was travelling east on I-80 near mile marker 199 when he believed he had struck someone on the roadway, the sheriff's office said.

Struck twice, the patrol report says

According to the State Patrol crash report, carried by The Gazette's Hometown Current, a 2010 Hyundai Elantra travelling east in the right lane struck a pedestrian on the roadway at about 6 p.m. The pedestrian then entered the left lane of travel and was struck by a 2019 Lincoln MKC. Both vehicles were towed from the scene by Taylor's Auto, the report says.

Deputies and State Patrol troopers who responded found the man deceased in the inside traffic lane. The Poweshiek County Medical Examiner's Office was contacted, and his body was taken to the Iowa State Medical Examiner's Office for an autopsy, officials said.

Who responded

The sheriff's office was assisted at the scene by East Poweshiek Ambulance, Brooklyn Fire and Rescue, the Poweshiek County Medical Examiner's Office, the Iowa State Patrol and the Iowa Department of Transportation. One eastbound lane was closed while crews worked, and the closure was expected to last until late Saturday evening.

Names withheld while the investigation runs

Authorities have not released the name of the man who died, or the names of either driver, citing the ongoing investigation. The State Patrol has also not said why the man was on the interstate roadway — the central unanswered question in the case — and no charges or citations have been announced.

A freight corridor after dark

Interstate 80 is the main east-west highway across Iowa and one of the country's busiest truck corridors, carrying long-haul freight through Poweshiek County past Brooklyn. The collision happened shortly after 6 p.m. in mid-November, in darkness. Police have not connected the light conditions to what happened; establishing how a pedestrian came to be in the eastbound lanes is the work of the patrol's investigation.

What happens next

The autopsy at the State Medical Examiner's Office and the State Patrol's crash reconstruction come next. The patrol is expected to release the man's identity once family has been notified, and to publish its findings on how the two collisions occurred. Until then, the confirmed record is this: at about 6:09 p.m. on November 14, a driver reported striking a pedestrian on eastbound I-80 near mile marker 199; responders found a man dead in the inside lane, and the patrol says two vehicles struck him.