Victim ID’d after fatal Montgomery Creek rollover
UPDATED: Thursday, Dec. 19, 2:30 a.m., With victim’s identification and other details from CHP.
MONTGOMERY CREEK — Details are still slowly emerging, but authorities have confirmed they are investigating the cause of a solo-vehicle, rollover crash that killed at least one person in Montgomery Creek earlier this morning, Tuesday, Dec. 17.
The area where the deadly accident occurred – on Big Bend Rd. near Jacks Ln., about five miles north of SR-299E – is a two-lane, rural mountain road that is known to become dangerously icy during colder weather and officials confirmed the area where the accident happened dipped into the mid-teens overnight and was covered with ice at the time of the crash.
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According to a CHP incident log and radio traffic at the time, officials were first alerted to the crash shortly after 8 a.m., when a person called 911 to report a solo-vehicle collision on the winding road, which features countless sharp and hairpin turns, with steep inclines and descents and treacherous driving conditions during fall and winter.
The caller also reported finding a person, possibly a male, down in the roadway and blocking the northbound lane behind the wrecked and overturned pickup truck.
The first arriving fire officials reported finding extremely icy conditions and urged other emergency personnel to use extreme caution while approaching the scene of the crash.
When officials arrived they found a silver or grey, 2005 Toyota Tundra pickup truck that had overturned and was stopped across the lanes of travel.
CHP soon confirmed finding icy roadway conditions and provided Cal-Trans with coordinates to the location so they could scrape and salt the road. CHP also requested a tow truck so the wrecked vehicle could be towed and stored as evidence.
At around 8:30 a.m., CHP requested coroner officials respond to the scene for at least one person killed in the crash. The victim was later identified as Jesse (Jess) Shane Baugher, of Montgomery Creek. His age was not immediately available.
While CHP was continuing to investigate the crash, the vehicle involved in the fatal wreck was towed from the scene.
CHP later reported that just before the deadly accident Baugher had been traveling southbound on Big Bend Rd., north of Jack’s Ln., when he began to lose control of his pickup due to the icy roadway conditions. Trying to gain control of his vehicle, Baugher over-corrected, causing his truck to careen across the two-lane road. The pickup then struck a cedar tree, causing it to overturn; at which time he was fatally ejected. CHP also later confirmed the victim had not been wearing his seat belt when the accident happened.
This is a developing story that will be updated as new information is available.
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Trevor Montgomery, 48, moved in 2017 to the Intermountain area of Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source and Shasta County News Source. Additionally, he writes or has written for several other news organizations; including Riverside County based newspapers, Valley News, (the now defunct) Valley Chronicle, Anza Valley Outlook, and Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle; as well as Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County and Mountain Echo in Shasta County.
Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back, and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s accident.)
During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations; including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center, and Lake Elsinore Station; along with other locations.
Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, and Personnel/Background Investigations. He finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator and was a court-designated expert in child abuse and child sex-related crimes.
Trevor has been married for more than 29 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and his “fluid family” includes 13 children and 16 grandchildren.
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