Gilchrist man dies in Hwy 97 vehicle-pedestrian crash

A 60-year-old Gilchrist man standing on foggy Highway 97 north of Crescent was struck and killed by two vehicles early Sunday, the first only about a minute after Oregon State Police got a call about the pedestrian in the road, troopers said.

OSP dispatchers got that call about 4:34 a.m., and about a minute later, a southbound 1994 Ford Explorer driven by Robert Saunders, 56, of Bend, struck the pedestrian, later identified as Miles Douglas Mattox, 60, of Gilchrist, said OSP Lt. Bill Fugate.

A short time later, another southbound vehicle, a 1996 Ford pickup driven by Darren Harrison, 46, of La Pine, struck Mattox, who was lying in the roadway near milepost 181 in northern Klamath County, Fugate said.

Crescent Fire personnel were called out and declared Mattox dead at the scene.

Saunders was taken to St. Charles Bend for treatment of minor injuries, Fugate said. Harrison was unhurt.

ODOT also assisted OSP at the scene of the crash and investigation, which closed the highway for about three hours. The highway was totally dark, with dense fog in the area, Fugate said.