Calif. man dies in Hwy. 97 crash in Sherman County
A 75-year-old Redding, California man was killed Saturday morning when his SUV left Highway 97 in Sherman County and rolled several times, Oregon State Police said.
Troopers and medics responded around 8:25 a.m. to the reported single-vehicle crash near milepost 40, about a half-mile north of Kent, OSP Captain Tim Fox said.
A preliminary investigation found that Leroy Despain was at the wheel of a red 1998 Jeep Wrangler heading south on the highway when it left the road and rolled several times, Fox said.
Despain was pronounced dead at the scene.
OSP was assisted at the scene by South Sherman Fire and Rescue, the Sherman County Sheriff’s Office and ODOT
It was one of several fatal crashes around the state over the Thanksgiving weekend.
A two-vehicle crash Friday evening on Highway 199 near Selma in Josephine County that killed Briana Varela, 27, of Rogue River, whose car crossed into the oncoming lanes for unknown reasons and struck an oncoming car driven by Elizabeth Real of the United Kingdom.
Varela died later at a Seattle hospital of injuries from the crash. Real and passenger Kelly Karaba of Arcata, Calif., were seriously injured.
OSP said Varela was reported as a reckless driver about 16 miles prior to the crash. Investigators have asked to speak to any witnesses to her driving behavior before the crash.
On Saturday afternoon, a Rainier man, James Gotcher, 63, was riding in an eastbound pickup truck that lost personal property on Highway 30 in Columbia County, Fox said.
Gotcher got out of the pickup and was in the roadway trying to retrieve the items when he was struck by a westbound pickup driven by Joseph Salvey, 45, of Rainier, Fox said. Gotcher died at the scene and Salvey stayed at the scene and is cooperating in the investigation.
