Just before 4 a.m., Sunday, the Florida Highway Patrol responded to a four-vehicle crash northbound on I-75 near the 367 mile marker.
One person has been confirmed dead.
There were two tractor-trailers and two passenger vehicles involved in the accident.
Northbound lanes reopened at approximately 12:00 p.m. Sunday. Traffic was diverted into the emergency lane to bypass the debris and emergency workers near the accident scene.
Due to the slow moving traffic, motorists were urged to exit at County Road 326 and take U.S. 441 to County Road 318. Traffic in those areas were also heavily congested.
Northbound traffic was backed-up for more than 20 miles by 10 a.m. At approximately 12:21 p.m. the back-up had decreased to 12 miles.
At the County Road 326 exit, drivers were illegally using the emergency lane to exit the highway. Three accidents were a near miss because drivers were speeding in the emergency lane. One vehicle pulled into the emergency lane and into the path of an oncoming tow truck as it attempted to make its way to the crash scene. The driver of the tow was forced onto the grassy shoulder of I-75. FHP was only utilizing the emergency lanes near the crash site.
Florida Highway Patrol spokeswoman Sergeant Tracy Hisler-Pace said A 2012 Toyota Camry, driven by Dujuan Naughton Capehart, 26, of Pensacola, Florida, was traveling northbound on I-75 behind a 2006 Kenworth 18-wheeler, driven by Thomas L. Free, 56, of Lake Alfred, Florida, when the Camry struck the rear of the 18-wheeler
The Camry then rotated clockwise and came to rest straddling the outside and center lane facing southbound.
Free pulled his semi into the emergency lane.
A 2013 Volvo tractor-trailer, driven by Anthony Vincenti, 39, of Houston, Texas, was traveling northbound in the center lane and slammed into the Camry. The semi then propelled over the guardrail, across all three southbound lanes of traffic where it came to rest in the tree line on the southbound side of the interstate.
The Camry was vaulted across the northbound outside lane and emergency lane where it came to its final rest in the tree line on the northbound side of I-75.
The driver of the Camry came to rest in the northbound lanes of I-75.
A 2008 Hyundai Elantra, driven by Christine E. Milton, 22, of New Market, Alabama, was traveling northbound and ran over Capehart. Investigators are not sure if the driver of the Camry was ejected, or had exited the vehicle.
Milton exited her vehicle and notified law enforcement that she had just hit someone in the road.
Capehart was pronounced dead at the scene.
The investigation is ongoing.
No further details have been released at this time.