The five family members killed in slick road conditions on U.S. Highway 97 Wednesday were all from Bend, authorities said.

The fatalities included two teenagers and a 1-year-old boy, according to a release Thursday from Oregon State Police. The crash happened at 9:45 a.m. two miles north of the intersection of Highway 97 and state Highway 58 when the driver of a Chrysler Pacifica lost control and slid into the southbound lane. The Chrysler’s passenger side collided with the front end of a Peterbilt commercial vehicle and trailer, even though the driver of the semi-truck attempted to avoid the vehicle by swerving onto the southbound shoulder.

OSP identified the driver of the Chrysler as Juan Ochoa Bravo, 39, and the passengers as Eve Saldana Alcantar, 37, Erik Ochoa Saldana, 18, a 15-year old girl and a 1-year-old old boy. All were declared dead at the scene.

An 11-year old girl was transported for medical attention with critical injuries. The driver of the semi-truck, Iskanyan Avetis Vardani, 56, of Los Angeles was not injured.

Scott Maben, a spokesperson for Bend-La Pine Schools, confirmed all those killed were from the same family. He also said Erik Ochoa Saldana was a 2023 graduate of Bend High School and that the 15-year-old girl attended Caldera High School.

“When the district learned about this yesterday, we activated our crisis response protocols and we had teams of crisis counsellors at four schools this morning to support students and staff,” Maben told The Bulletin on Thursday.

OSP attributed the accident to challenging roadway conditions and stated several of the passengers were not wearing seatbelts during the incident.

A fundraising effort for the Ochoa family has been started at www.gofundme.com/f/the-family-ochoa. 

A second crash happened later Wednesday at around 6:30 p.m. just four miles away. Although the cause of the second crash is still under investigation by OSP, road conditions remained challenging throughout the day across Central Oregon due to freezing rain and melting snowpack.

A preliminary investigation of the second crash showed that the driver of a GMC pickup, Michael Randolph Lasley, 78, of Clearlake, California crossed the center line and struck a Peterbilt commercial motor vehicle and trailer head-on. The driver of the semi-truck, Zachay Ryan Sprangler, 29, from Grants Pass, was not injured. Lasley was declared dead at the scene, OSP said.

Both accidents closed Highway 97 for a period of five hours and drivers were unable to use the highway for most of Wednesday. A detour around the first crash using Highway 58 was not established until 3 p.m. and no detour was established for the second crash.