North Bend woman killed in head-on crash on Highway 38

North Bend woman killed in head-on crash on Highway 38

Heidi Rosanna Johnson, 20, from North Bend, Ore., died Saturday in a four-car crash. Police believe Johnson was traveling to the Eugene/Springfield area, where she was a student at Lane Community College.

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By KVAL Web Staff

SCOTTSBURG, Ore. -- A young woman and her dog died Saturday afternoon in a four-vehicle crash that  seriously injured six other people.

Police have tentatively identified the victim as Heidi Rosanna Johnson, 20, from North Bend. Police believe she was traveling to the Eugene/Springfield area, where she was a student at Lane Community College.

Oregon State Police believe a Toyota Sequoia driven by John Flaxel, 72, of Coos Bay, was westbound on Highway 38 when it crossed the centerline and sideswiped a Ford F150 driven by Konrad Kennelly, 50, of Port Angeles, Wash.

The Toyota continued into the eastbound lane and collided head-on with Johnson's Volkswagen Jetta, causing it to land off the highway and catch fire.

The driver of a Chrysler minivan, Shirley Powell, 59, of Sutherlin, witnessed the collision and steered to avoid the Toyota. The minivan came to a stop off the highway in a ditch.

The Ford F150 pickup came to a stop overturned in the middle of the highway. 



The F150 driver, Kennelly, and passenger Martha Xitco, 50, from Port Angeles, Wash., received minor injuries and were transported by ambulance to Bay Area Hospital in Coos Bay.

The driver of the Toyota, Flaxel, accompanied an OSP trooper to Bay Area Hospital for an evaluation where it was discovered he was bleeding internally.  He was transported to a Eugene-area hospital by air ambulance. 

His passenger, Joy Flaxel, was transported by air ambulance to Sacred Heart Hospital at RiverBend in Eugene.

The driver of the minivan, Powell, and her husband Evert Powell, 59, were transported with minor injuries by ambulance to Bay Area Hospital.

OSP troopers from the Coos Bay and Roseburg Area Command offices are continuing the investigation with the assistance of an OSP crash reconstructionist.  Highway 38 was closed for three hours before being opened to one lane.

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