A Molalla man was one of two fatalities in a two-vehicle crash in Douglas County in southwest Oregon this week.
The crash occurred shortly after noon Wednesday, June 28, north of Gardiner, a historic community on the banks of the Umpqua River near Reedsport, about three miles from the Oregon coast.
According to the preliminary investigation by Oregon State Police, 35-year-old Raymond Louis Eby Jr., of Molalla, was driving his silver GMC Sonoma southbound on Highway 101 near mile marker 208, when he crossed into the oncoming lane for unknown reasons.
The GMC Sonoma collided head-on with a white Toyota Rav4, operated by Shawna Michelle Coolidge, 51, of Florence. The force of the crash rolled the GMC over onto its roof, where it came to rest blocking the northbound lane, police said.
The Toyota left the roadway and came to an uncontrolled rest down a small embankment adjacent to the northbound lanes. Both vehicles sustained heavy front-end damage and, sadly, both drivers were declared dead at the scene.
A 3-year-old child in Coolidge’s vehicle was transported to Lower Umpqua Hospital via Lower Umpqua Ambulance with non-life-threatening injuries and later transferred to Sacred Heart Riverbend in Springfield.
ODOT, Mast Brother’s Towing, Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, Reedsport Police Department, Gardiner Fire Department, Lower Umpqua Ambulance and the Douglas County Medical Examiner’s Office were among the agencies that assisted in the investigation.
