March 20, 2024 4:00 a.m.  

A Seattle woman died in a two-vehicle crash on Interstate 5 near the Harvard Avenue Exit 124 interchange in Roseburg on Monday.

An Oregon State Police report said just after 10:35 a.m. troopers responded to the northbound lanes of the freeway and the northbound off-ramp.

A preliminary investigation indicated that an SUV, operated by 76-year-old Rodney Ash, also of Seattle, was passing a commercial motor vehicle while negotiating a sharp curve. The SUV hit the left front corner of the semi-truck, causing it to turn across the front of the CMV. The SUV then slid across the travel lanes, jumped over the concrete barrier, rolled down an embankment and came to rest on its roof next to the off-ramp.

The passenger in the SUV, 81-year-old Laura Ash, was transported to CHI Mercy Medical Center where she was later declared deceased. The driver of the semi, a 42-year-old Newberg man, was taken to Mercy as a precautionary measure.

The area was impacted for approximately two hours during the on-scene investigation.

OSP was assisted by the Roseburg Police Department, Roseburg Fire and the Oregon Department of Transportation.