Gazette-Times

Two couples, from Albany and Springfield, died early Monday in a single-vehicle crash on snowy Highway 58. According to information from the Oregon State police, a truck driver saw a vehicle down an embankment, its roof crushed against a tree, five miles east of Oakridge about 6 a.m.

State troopers were called in from home, and local emergency medical technicians arrived to find all four people inside the vehicle had died at the scene.

Authorities identified them as driver Leroy Millard West, 59, from Springfield, his wife Lanette Kay West, 62; William Ray Freeman, 51, and his wife Paula Di-Anne Clary Smith, 43, both of Albany. Clary Smith was Lanette West's daughter.

Although the investigation continues, it appears that, for reasons yet undetermined, the eastbound Geo Tracker sport utility vehicle, which was on a straight stretch of highway, traveled across into the westbound lane and off the north side of the highway, where it became airborne. The top of the vehicle crashed against a large cedar tree, crushing the passenger compartment.

All victims were wearing safety harnesses. They were reportedly headed to Reno, Nev. Although some spots of ice dotted the highway, it's unknown whether that was a factor in the quadruple fatal.