Redmond man killed in SUV crash near Diamond Lake

Three passengers injured when SUV plunged 150 feet off embankment

DIAMOND LAKE, Ore. (KTVZ) -- A 23-year-old Redmond man was killed and his three passengers were injured on Christmas night when his SUV plunged over a 150-foot embankment and into a ravine on a forest road near Diamond Lake, Douglas County sheriff’s deputies said.

The sheriff’s office said it received information from Jackson County dispatchers shortly after 8 p.m. Wednesday of an injury crash in the Diamond Lake area, near the Douglas-Jackson county line.

First responders from both counties were sent to the scene, on the 100 spur of Forest Service Road 6530. Crews found a 2017 Toyota 4Runner, which had gone into the ravine and was then struck by a large boulder.

The driver, Cody Ray Bean of Redmond, died at the crash scene. The three passengers taken to Medford hospitals for treatment were identified as Lauren Elizabeth Bean, 22, and Kody Dale Gray, 24, both of Central Point, and Lisa Ann Preston, 48, of Medford.

“The crash is still under investigation, but alcohol and speed appear to be factors,” the sheriff’s office said in a news release Thursday.