FLORENCE – A 39-year-old Florence man was killed early Saturday when his car went off Oregon Highway 126 four miles west of Walton and struck a tree.
It was the seventh fatality on the highway in the Walton area in the past 11 months.
Oregon State Police said Chad Colborn of Florence was westbound in his truck about 6:19 a.m. Saturday when he failed to negotiate a corner, left the highway and struck a tree. He died at the scene, police said.
A passenger, Skeyla Wardrobe, 26, of Mapleton, was taken by air ambulance to a Eugene-area hospital with critical injuries, police said. Two other passengers, Shane Sprinkle, 34, of Florence and Jaydon Woodruff, 24, of Eugene, were taken by ambulance to Eugene hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries.
The highway was closed for approximately five hours.
