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ANDERSON COUNTY - A Norris woman died after the motorcycle she was riding on collided with a tractor-trailer on Interstate 85 early Friday morning.

Heather Elaine Chappell, 21, of 801 Norris Highway, died after the collision, which took place near the Clemson Boulevard exit, said Lance Cpl. Kathy Hiles with the S.C. Highway Patrol.

The collision occurred as the 2006 Harley Davidson Chappell was a passenger on entered the interstate on the Clemson Boulevard exit, Hiles said.

The motorcycle, driven by Kevin Glenn Kennemore, 33, of 472 Patterson Street, Central, went across the grassy median onto I-85 and struck the right front of the trailer.

"They were both thrown from the motorcycle," said Anderson County Coroner Greg Shore.

Chappell was pronounced dead at the scene, Shore said.

Cause of death was blunt force trauma, he said.

Kennemore was airlifted to Greenville Memorial, where he underwent surgery Friday morning and was in critical condition as of Friday afternoon, Shore said.

The driver of the tractor trailer, James Sloan, 56, of Mauldin wasn't hurt in the collision.

"He never saw the motorcycle collide with him," Shore said. "He felt it and he stopped."

The tractor trailer is registered to BI-LO, Hiles said.

Neither Chappell nor Kennemore were wearing helmets, Hiles said.

Toxicology results have not come back from the lab but alcohol is not thought to be a factor at this time, Shore said.

Chappell leaves behind a one-year-old child and a three-year-old child.

The accident is still under investigation by the S.C. Highway Patrol.