PHOTO PROVIDED
On Wednesday, April 11, 2018 at approximately 10:25 a.m., Oregon State Police responded to a report of a pickup truck that had left the roadway on Highway 241 near Milepost 12.5 and entered into the Coos River.
Initial investigation confirmed that the vehicle was traveling east on Highway 241 and for unknown reasons drifted off the road, down a steep embankment and into the river. The vehicle was in approximately eight feet of water and was completely submerged.
Witnesses observed the vehicle in the water and attempted unsuccessfully to rescue the occupant. With the assistance of an Oregon State Police Fish and Wildlife boat out of Coos Bay and the Southwestern Oregon Regional Airport fire department’s dive rescue team, the driver, who was deceased at the scene, was recovered from the vehicle. There were no other occupants in the vehicle.
The vehicle was identified as a 2004 Ford pickup and the driver was 66-year-old Kenneth Glen Nailon, of Creswell. The cause of death is being investigated by the Coos County Medical Examiner’s office but is unknown at this time.
ODOT assisted while the vehicle was recovered by Mast Brothers Towing. There was no significant impact to the environment.
