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Sheriff Tim Svenson of the Yamhill County Sheriff's Office announced today that his office will join with other law enforcement agencies state wide August 20th through September 2nd, 2018 to encourage the use of safety belts and child restraints as the simplest and most effective way to prevent crash related injuries and fatalities.  These dates coincide with the Labor Day weekend. As this is the last long weekend of the summer, traffic is expected to increase greatly and the chances of being involved in a traffic crash also increase. 

•        Oregon law requires all occupants to use safety restraints or a child safety system appropriate for their size. Law enforcement agencies throughout Oregon will be working overtime to focus on proper safety belt use including child seat use, during a nationwide traffic enforcement “blitz” occurring day and night.

•        This enhanced enforcement is made possible through grant funding of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and administered by Oregon State Sheriff’s Association

•        Safety belts, used correctly, can reduce the risk of major crash injury or death by up to 65%.  Belts are even more effective when used in combination with airbag systems and other not-so-obvious occupant protection features designed into today’s vehicles.

•        Child seats may increase crash survival by 71% for infants under one year old and by up to 59% for toddlers aged one to four.  Booster seats may reduce the chance of nonfatal injury among four to eight year olds by 45% compared to safety belts used alone.

•        Children under one year or weighing less than twenty pounds must ride in a rear-facing child seat.  A child over forty pounds must use either a child seat or booster until they reach age eight or 4’ 9” tall and the adult belt fits them correctly. 

Yesterday, at about 5:00 p.m. the body of Kerry Albert Letsch was located in the Santiam River, approximately one mile downriver from the Santiam Rest Area.  Letsch had been missing since July 13th and had been suffering from dementia and depression.  His vehicle was discovered abandoned at the Santiam Rest Area on Interstate 5 on July 20th. 

The discovery of Letsch’s vehicle prompted a search of the rest area and adjacent properties by the Oregon State Police and the Marion County Sheriff’s Office.  The search included approximately 9.5 river miles from the City of Jefferson to the Willamette River.  

Letsch was located yesterday evening by rafters using the river for recreation.  The Oregon State Police, the Jefferson Fire District, and the Linn County Sheriff’s Office all assisted in the recovery. 

A post examination of Letsch will be conducted in the near future, but foul play is not suspected at this time. 

The Yamhill County District Attorney’s Office has advised us that they are prepared to release information on the investigation into the officer involved shooting of July 7, 2018, in Amity, Oregon.  They have asked us to advise the media that there will be a press conference to share the information tomorrow, July 27th, at 10:45am.  The press conference will be held in the Newberg Public Safety building, located at  401 E. Third Street, Newberg.  Questions should be directed to the Yamhill County District Attorney’s Office.

**UPDATE** Today at approximately 1330 hours, the Yamhill County Sheriff’s Office received a call that a body had been located in the Willamette River approximately 4 miles downriver from the Wheatland Ferry.  The Yamhill County Marine Patrol was actively on the water searching the area at that time of the call. 
 
Marine deputies from the both the Yamhill County Sheriff’s Office and the Polk County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene and recovered the body.  Family members were able to positively identify the body as that of Leocadio Sendejas-Sanchez.  Mr. Sendejas-Sanchez had gone missing while swimming near the Wheatland Ferry on Wednesday, July 18. 
 
Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family members of Mr. Sendejas-Sanchez.