After seven months, OSP IDs victim of fiery Crook County crash

After nearly 7 1/2 months, Oregon State Police said they have been able to use DNA to positively identify a 55-year-old Bend man killed in a fiery late-February crash on George Millican Road south of Prineville.

The victim of the Feb. 27 crash has been identified as Mark Bryan Tsatsa, said OSP Sgt. Jeff Proulx.

“This was a difficult case to identify,” Proulx said in a news release Monday evening, but through hair samples and other items, the OSP Forensic Laboratory in Clackamas was able to use DNA to positively identify Tsatsa.

Troopers responded around 9:20 that morning to the single-vehicle crash 20 miles south of Prineville.

When troopers arrived on scene, the 1995 Cadillac was engulfed in flames and the fire had spread to surrounding vegetation, OSP said at the time.

Only one person was in the car, and troopers said speed was believed to be a contributing factor in the cause of the crash.

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.

OSP was assisted at the scene by the Crook County Sheriff’s Office, Crook County Fire and Rescue and the BLM.