La Pine man killed in Highway 97 head-on crash

(Update: OSP releases names, details)

A La Pine man was killed and two Bend residents were seriously injured Friday afternoon in a head-on crash on U.S. Highway 97 north of La Pine, Oregon State Police reported.

OSP and emergency personnel responded around 3 p.m. to the two-vehicle crash near milepost 159, about nine miles north of La Pine, OSP Captain Tim Fox said.

A preliminary investigation determined that Kevin Werts, 56, of La Pine, was heading south on the highway, covered with packed snow and ice, when he lost control of his Toyota Camry and it collided with a Hyundai Santa Fe driven by Susan Pitarro, 70, of Bend.

Werts sustained fatal injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene, Fox said.

Pitarro and her passenger, Terry Thompson, 63, of Bend, were taken to St. Charles Bend with serious injuries, the captain said.

The crash closed the highway for a time, until ODOT reopened one lane, in alternating directions with flaggers. The highway reopened in the evening.

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