Fatal Crash - Highway 97 - Jefferson County - 01/12/26

Jefferson County, Ore. (Jan. 12, 2026)- On Saturday, January 10, 2026, at 11:43 a.m., Oregon State Police responded to a vehicle versus pedestrian crash on Highway 97, near milepost 101, in Jefferson County.

The preliminary investigation indicated a Ford Explorer, operated by James Edwin Legore (63) of Sandy (UT), was on the shoulder of the roadway and began to merge into the northbound lanes when it struck a pedestrian, Jared Elijah Cooper (38) of Madras, while reentering the highway.

The pedestrian (Cooper) was declared deceased at the scene.

The operator of the Ford (Legore) was reportedly uninjured.

The highway was impacted for approxiamtely five hours during the on-scene investigation. The cause of the crash is under investigation.

OSP was assisted by the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office and ODOT.

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About the Oregon State Police Collision Reconstruction Unit (CRU) 
The Oregon State Police Collision Reconstruction Unit (CRU) is a specialized unit responsible for investigating fatal and critical injury collisions on Oregon’s highways. The team provides expertise in the documentation, investigation, and analysis of complex motor vehicle crashes and crime scenes. They receive specialized training in the use of advanced measuring techniques and small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) for on-scene investigations. The CRU team includes ACTAR accredited collision reconstructionists and technical collision investigators deployed across the state.