Published 09/22/2026 at 8:55 p.m.
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection Staff
(Florence, Oregon) – Two crashes near the Oregon coast this past weekend resulted in tragic deaths, including a four-month-old child.
Oregon State Police (OSP) released the information this week.
OSP said it is still investigating a triple-fatal crash that occurred late Saturday afternoon on Highway 42 inside the Myrtle Point city limits – on the southern Oregon coast near Bandon.
Troopers were dispatched at 4:46 p.m. on September 19 after a vehicle began fleeing from local police.
“The preliminary investigation indicated a Myrtle Point Police Department officer was attempting to contact a suspect, identified as Gregory Paul Olson (69) of Myrtle Point, who had attempted to leave a local business several hours earlier without paying for merchandise,” OSP said. “Olson fled from the officer in his vehicle, a silver Land Rover LR3 and traveled eastbound on Highway 42 at a high rate of speed.”

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The Subaru’s operator, James Edward Price, 32, of Myrtle Point, died at the scene. Passenger Genevieve Marie Huffaker, 20, of Coquille, was transported to a hospital and later pronounced deceased. A four-month-old female infant was taken to a Portland-area hospital, where she also died.
Olson sustained serious injuries and remains hospitalized. The investigation is ongoing.
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Along the central Oregon coast, not far from Florence, two people were killed Friday night in a single-vehicle crash on Highway 126W near milepost 33.
OSP responded at 10:02 p.m. on September 18 after a red Subaru Forester driven by Max Timothy Hill, 48, of Newberg, left the eastbound lane for unknown reasons and struck a tree on the shoulder.
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“The operator of the Subaru (Hill) was pronounced deceased at the scene,” OSP said. “A seventeen-year-old male passenger was also pronounced deceased at the scene.”
Highway 126W was closed for roughly four hours during the investigation. Western Lane EMS, Siuslaw Valley Fire Department, the Lane County Sheriff’s Office, and ODOT assisted at the scene.
UPDATE: INFORMATION A THIRD INCIDENT RELEASED: Another Fatal Accident on Oregon Coast Last Weekend, This Time Involving Pedestrian --- Gleneden Beach: A Portland man hit first by one vehicle and then by two more
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