Junction City, OR : Three people died in two separate vehicle ­accidents near Highway 99 West on Thursday morning, January 29, 2015

Two people died in a 3-vehicle crash on Highway 99 Thursday morning, and a third person died in a crash on the detour around the initial crash scene.

The first crash happened just before 7 a.m. on Hwy 99W near Milliron Road, 5 miles south of Junction City.

State police said Jacob W. Harper Leonard, 29, of Junction City was northbound in a 1991 Ford Explorer when he crossed the center median into oncoming traffic.

The Explorer collided head-on with a Honda CR-V driven by Danielle M. Roberts, 25, of Springfield.

A loaded Kenworth log truck then hit the CR-V. The driver of the log truck, Scott Wood, 55, of Veneta, was not physically injured.

Roberts, the driver in the CR-V, died at the scene.

Harper Leonard, the driver of the Ford, suffered critical injuries and was rushed to Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend.

A passenger in the Ford, 25-year-old Brandon J. Foster of Junction City, died at the scene.

The highway was closed until 11:45 a.m. while police investigated.

During the closure, firefighters and Oregon DOT established a detour route around the crash scene using local roads.

"The roads started to become bumper to bumper, here on our road," said Kim Market, who lives on Prairie Road.

A second crash killed a person when a car and a van collided at Prairie and Meadowview roads.

The Lane County Sheriff's Office said Eugene Wong, 62, of Eugene died when he turned from Meadowview onto Prairie road. His van collided with a commercial truck on Prairie Road.

The two people in the commercial truck suffered non-life threatening injuries.

Source :
2 dead in crash that closed Hwy 99; 1 dead in crash on detour