Fourth victim dies after Highway 97 crash

The death toll from Tuesday’s crash on Highway 97 south of Madras has risen to four with the death of a Madras woman’s third son, Oregon State police said Wednesday.

The10-year-old son of Anita Bemrose succumbed to his injuries while being treated at St. Charles Bend, said OSP Capt. Bill Fugate.

The crash occurred shortly after 2 p.m.Tuesday at the intersection with Bear Drive, about five miles south of Madras, Fugate said.

Nearby residents said Wednesday this wasn’t an isolated incident.

“It’s very discouraging, because you see so many people being in wrecks here,” said Mearieta Shepherd.

A preliminary investigation found that a 2003 Pontiac van was heading north when Bemrose, 49, stopped in the travel lane, waiting for southbound traffic to pass so she could turn left (west) onto Bear Drive, Fugate said.

Another resident said it’s a problem area.

“The southbound lanes bottleneck, then you have people who are trying to turn onto Bear Drive,” said Judith Williams. “People that are coming up behind them, if somebody tries to pass them on the right, the person behind that vehicle may not see somebody trying to turn. And if there’s traffic coming, they can’t turn,”

That’s apparently what happened to Bemrose.

While she was waiting to turn, an unknown vehicle that also was heading north nearly rear-ended the van, but passed it on the right shoulder, the trooper said.

A 2015 Ford van that also was heading north, behind the unknown vehicle, could not avoid the Pontiac and “rear-ended it at highway speeds,” Fugate said in a news release. The impact sent the Pontiac into the oncoming lane, where it collided with a southbound 2008 Honda Accord.

Williams said she feels unsafe taking the route.

“If there’s no one behind me for a good long ways, I will use it,” she said. “But other than that, I take the cutoff for Culver and I just come around the back way, and so it’s a couple miles out of the way. I don’t care. I’d rather do that, I feel safe doing that.”

Shepard said things need to change: “We need a lot of turn lanes, and to reduce the speed back down to 55.”

Bemrose was flown by air ambulance to St. Charles Bend, where she died of her injuries, Fugate said. Two of her sons, 12 and 14, died at the crash scene, while her 10-year-old son also was taken to the Bend hospital and had been reported to have life-threatening injuries.

The driver of the Honda, Shirley Ayres, 69, of Madras, was taken to St. Charles with non-life-threatening injuries, Fugate said. The Ford’s driver, Bryan McDonald, 41, of Redmond, was taken to St. Charles Redmond, also with non-life-threatening injuries.

The GoFundMe page for the victim’s family can be found here www.gofundme.com/24yvcbyc#

OSP is seeking the public’s help in identifying the driver of the unknown vehicle who nearly collided with the stopped Pontiac, Fugate said. Anyone with information is asked to call OSP at 503-375-3555. Fugate said more information will be released as it becomes available.

Both Life flight and AirLink had sent helicopters to the scene. Traffic was diverted onto Highway 361 (the Culver Highway.