Portland-area driver killed in 250-foot plunge off Hwy. 26 to Mill Creek, north of Warm Springs

(Update: OSP releases details of crash)

WARM SPRINGS, Ore. (KTVZ) – Oregon State Police released more details Monday in a fatal crash early Saturday on US Highway 26 at the Mill Creek Bridge, where a Portland-area man drove off the road and landed in the canyon 250 feet below.

OSP said a Toyota Scion driven by a 30-year-old male resident of Happy Valley, a Clackamas County suburb of Portland, left the road at the Mill Creek Bridge north of Warm Springs and landed on the canyon floor.

Troopers said the man had been reported suicidal shortly after midnight, and Warm Springs Police found the car in the canyon a short time later.

NewsChannel 21 is not identifying the driver, due to the nature of the crash.

The fatal crash led to a recovery operation that closed a 25-mile stretch of the highway and detoured motorists for about four hours, officials said.

Warm Springs Fire and Safety and Warm Springs Police were dispatched around 12:20 a.m. to the Mill Creek Bridge near milepost 93 on a report that a vehicle had driven off the highway at the bridge, according to Lt. Garrett Webb, public information officer for the fire department.

Crews arrived on scene a short time later and were able to see in the darkness a vehicle on its top and side in the shallow creek below, Webb said.

Due to the car’s location and the distance down to the creek, the incident “transitioned from a rescue to recovery,” Webb said in a news release. Crews on scene determined that recovery operations would have to wait until daylight, to assure participants’ safety.

At first light Saturday, a WSFS crew was able to hike down the canyon, Webb said, but “due to the complexity of the incident,” came back up the side to await further resources.

For much of the day, until the closure, ODOT said on TripCheck that the crash was "causing minimal delay to traffic," but advised motorists to "prepare to slow or move over for worker safety."

OSP troopers were among those on scene to assist in the operation, and Webb said the largest contingent, from Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue, arrived in the afternoon.

The highway closed around 2:30 p.m. in both directions, once equipment and personnel were in place for the recovery, involving a crane.

By early evening, they had lifted the car and driver's remains from the canyon and the driver was being transported to a Madras funeral home, Webb confirmed, adding that the occupant was alone in the vehicle.

Highway 26 between Mount Hood and Warm Springs, from milepost 71 to 96, was closed for about four hours for the crash recovery operation, reopening before 6:30 p.m., ODOT said.

ODOT directed detoured eastbound traffic onto state Highway 216, then on U.S. Highway 197 to U.S. Highway 97. Truck traffic was directed to use OR 216, U.S. 197, Interstate 84 and U.S. 97 due to length restrictions near Maupin on U.S. 197. Westbound traffic used the same route in reverse order.

Webb said Warm Springs authorities wanted to thank Deschutes County Sheriff's Search and Rescue for their invaluable assistance at the crash and recovery scene.

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