Madras police identify driver killed in crash

(Update: Victim’s name released, police release mroe details)

A 26-year-old Madras woman was killed Tuesday night when her car left a northeast Madras road and crashed, police said Wednesday.

Police were dispatched at 8:42 p.m. to the reported crash on Northeast Loucks Road near Lakeside Drive, said Madras police Sgt. Mel Brown. The driver, Melissa C. Wallace, died at the crash scene.

Jefferson County sheriff’s deputies and Oregon State Police troopers assisted Madras police in the crash investigation, which closed the road for several hours.

The investigation determined that Wallace’s 2000 Pontiac was heading west when she lost control and it veered off the roadway, striking a tree, Police Chief Tanner Stanfill said.

Brown said it’s believed that alcohol and speed were factors in the crash.