SIU assistant football coach Cory Lee Warren was identified as the driver killed in a fatal traffic crash Tuesday on Cedar Creek Road in Jackson County.

Warren, 26, of Marion, died after the vehicle, a university-owned minivan, ran off the road, hit a tree and caught fire. The fire had burned itself out when Warren was discovered in the 2012 Dodge minivan by the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office.

The sheriff’s office received a report at roughly 11 a.m. Tuesday of a burned vehicle, which was discovered down an embankment in rural Makanda.

The time of the crash has not yet been determined, but is believed to have occurred overnight between Monday and Tuesday after the vehicle failed to negotiate a right hand curve and traveled off the road.

Jackson County Corner Thomas Kupferer identified Warren in an autopsy Wednesday and an exact cause of death is pending the final report from the forensic pathologist.

The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office and the Jackson County Coroner’s Office, which is being assisted by the SIU Department of Public Safety, are conducting the investigation.

Mario Moccia, director of athletics, said the entire athletics department is shocked by the incident. He said he is very confident something can and will be done to remember Warren during the season.

“You never expect to get a call like that with such a young person,” Moccia said.

Rae Goldsmith, chief marketing and communications officer, said the university is mourning.

“Our thoughts are with his wife and his family and friends,” Goldsmith said.