Redmond woman, Texas man killed in Highway 26 head-on crash on Warm Springs Reservation
(Update: OSP releases names, details of fatal crash; clarification on dog)
WARM SPRINGS, Ore. (KTVZ) – Two drivers were killed, a Texas man and a Redmond woman, in a head-on crash Saturday afternoon on U.S. Highway 26 on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation, Oregon State Police said Monday.
A dog in the woman’s car survived, they said.
OSP troopers and other emergency personnel responded to the two-vehicle crash, reported around 1:30 p.m. near milepost 77, the agency reported.
A preliminary investigation found that James Mahon, 51, of Mineral Wells, Texas, was heading east on the highway at the wheel of a Ford Taurus when he left his lane of travel and collided head-on with a westbound Hyundai Ion driven by Carla Nichols, 63, of Redmond.
Mahon and Nichols both sustained fatal injuries.
A young Chihuahua in Nichols’ car survived the crash and was found and cared for by Warm Springs police and medics. An animal rescue, Rockn EZ Rescue Ranch, was called in to care for the dog until the woman’s family picked it up that night, a representative of the organization said.
The crash closed a 20-mile stretch of the highway for about five hours while the OSP Collision Reconstruction Unit conducted an investigation, troopers said. OSP was assisted by the Warm Springs Police Department and ODOT, which in a traffic alert advised motorists to use other highways..
