February 18, 2021 4:00 a.m.

A crash claimed the life of a Days Creek man on Tuesday.

Sergeant Brad O’Dell of the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office said shortly before 11:30 a.m. deputies were dispatched to a single vehicle wreck in the 500 block of Ferguson Lane. O’Dell said a caller reported that a pickup had left the roadway and was partially in the South Umpqua River.

O’Dell said when deputies arrived on the scene, they located a pickup that had exited the roadway for an unknown reason and rolled down a steep embankment. The vehicle was lying on its side. Fire and EMS crews arrived and removed the driver, 78-year old John Boone from the pickup and declared him deceased at the scene.

O’Dell said Boone was the only occupant in the vehicle and was found to not be wearing a safety belt.