PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Authorities have reopened NE Marine Drive between 33rd and 122nd Avenues following a deadly crash involving a vehicle that plunged into the Columbia River.
Portland Fire & Rescue reported a vehicle was sinking in the river in the area of the 7000 block of NE Marine Drive just after 7:30 a.m. Sunday.
A PF&R boat quickly attended to the vehicle’s lone occupant and brought him to shore. He was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. He was later identified as Eddie Robert Larson of Portland.
“A passerby saw the tire marks in the grass and headlights in the water and called 911,” police said in a release Sunday. “There are no known witnesses to the crash itself.”
North Precinct officers went to the home address of Larson, 48, to confirm if anyone else could have been in the car. Officers were able to contact his wife and confirm he was alone.
Authorities said Larson was on his way to work from home when his car left the roadway and veered down the hill, across the bike path, and off the embankment into the Columbia River.
No other injuries were reported.
Details of what led to the crash are still under investigation, according to the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office.