OSP: Still no identity of victim of fiery rollover crash
(Update: No ID after five days; state ME will use dental tests)
Authorities have yet to be able to identify the driver in a fiery, fatal crash on George Millican Road last Monday, so DNA testing will be conducted, Oregon State Police said Friday.
An OSP spokesman said the state Medical Examiner’s Office “will be looking at DNA to identify” the victim of the crash.
Earlier in the week, OSP Sgt. Jeff Proulx said troopers and Crook County sheriff’s deputies responded to the single-vehicle crash around 9:20 a.m. Monday.
Troopers arrived to find a 1995 Cadillac engulfed in flames and surrounding vegetation burning, Proulx said.
Once the fire was out, investigators determined there was one deceased person in the car.
“At this time, it is believed that only one person was in the car at the time of the crash and the identification of the driver is not yet known,” Proulx said in a news release earlier in the week.
“Speed is believed to be a contributing factor into the cause of the crash,” he added.
A deputy on scene said the car apparently was heading north when it crossed the oncoming lane, left the road and flipped over a fence, hitting a tree and bursting into flames.
Witnesses said it appeared the car went airborne before it hit a tree and burst into flames.
“It’s a long distance from where he left the highway to where he finally came to a stop,” said Thad Higgins, who was on the scene. “And he took out trees and fences and all kinds of things along the way.”
OSP was assisted at the scene by the Crook County Sheriff’s Office, the Bureau of Land Management and Crook County Fire and Rescue. An AirLink helicopter also was called to the scene.
