OSP identifies 3 killed in Highway 126 crash

(Update: OSP corrects last name of crash victims)

Oregon State Police on Wednesday identified three people killed in a single-vehicle crash on state Highway 126 west of Redmond late Tuesday morning.

Troopers said a preliminary investigation found that Kenneth Vaughan, 69, of Redmond, was driving a 2011 Toyota Venza westbound on Highway 126 when for an unknown reason, it veered off the road and struck large rocks at a driveway access.

The two passengers were identified as 63-year old Sheryl Vaughan of Redmond and 33-year old April Vaughan.

All three died at the scene of the crash, which occurred shortly before 11:30 a.m. near milepost 105 and the Eagle Crest Boulevard intersection, about seven miles west of Redmond.

OSP Sgt. Caleb Ratliff told NewsChannel 21′ s Max Goldwasser in a livestream at the scene that the SUV was heading west on the highway when for unknown reasons it veered across the oncoming lane and struck a rock abutment by a driveway, coming to rest atop some rocks.

” We don’t know why it went off the road, ” Ratliff said. ” We don’t know if it was a medical condition, distracted driving or some other incident. That’s currently under investigation. ”

” We’ll do a crash reconstruction, ” Ratliff said. ” We have experts come out and take measurements. They’ll reconstruct the crash to figure out exactly what happened, as far as the physical movements of the vehicle. (Medical examiners’ office staff are) going to come out, and we’ll examine the occupants and see if they can determine a reason for the crash as well. ”

The crash shut the eastbound lane of the highway for a time and motorists were urged to find an alternate route. OSP was assisted at the scene by the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office, Redmond Fire Department and ODOT.

” Highway 126 itself is a dangerous highway, as most highways in Central Oregon are, just because of the volume of traffic that we have and the speed that people travel, ” Ratliff said. ” This particular section doesn’t have a higher number of crashes that I know of than any other, but again, when you’re on the road driving a one-ton vehicle at 60 miles an hour, everything is dangerous. ”