BRANDON - It may be another week before authorities know the identity of the man behind the head-on crash that left him and another motorist dead Thursday.

Troopers with the Iowa State Patrol said the unidentified van driver was headed north on the southbound lanes of Interstate 380 near Brandon when he slammed into a passenger car driven by Carrie McGill.

Both the mystery van driver and McGill, a 35-year-old accountant who was on the Jesup School Board, died in the crash.

The van was engulfed in flames, and semi truck that was struck by the van also caught fire.

McGill was quickly identified through her driver license photo, said Sgt. John Baber with the Iowa State Patrol.

He said the body of the van driver is undergoing DNA testing to confirm an identity.

Baber said he didn't know where investigators obtained a genetic sample to test against the body.

Troopers have a good idea who was driving the van but declined to disclose a name until genetic testing is complete, Baber said.

Using license plates and a vehicle identification number, investigators have determined the van was from the Cedar Rapids area, Baber said.

Also under wraps is the scenario that is coming to light as to how the accident happened.

Officers have talked to some witnesses and as of Monday had about six more people to interview, Baber said.

It remains unclear where the van began traveling the wrong way on the interstate, which has north- and southbound lanes separated by a broad, grassy median.

Iowa State Patrol officials said Benton County dispatchers first received a complaint about the wrong-way van shortly before 7 a.m.

A short time later, the accident was reported across from the Brandon truck scales facility, which is in the southwest tip of Buchanan County,

Contact Jeff Reinitz at (319) 291-1578 or jeff.reinitz@wcfcourier.com.