A 50 year old woman was found dead on the I-205 multi-use path in Clackamas County at 1:00 am on Friday morning (11/25) and law enforcement officials are now searching for clues in what they believe to be a homicide.
According to the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office, Dana Crippen — who they say “was previously to be known to be homeless and living in the Eugene area” — was found on a the path where it goes under SE Johnson Creek Blvd, just west of I-205. Here’s more from the sheriff’s office:
“Following an initial investigation at the scene by detectives from the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office and a post-mortem examination conducted by the Oregon State Medical Examiner’s office, it was determined that Mrs. Crippen died of traumatic homicidal violence very near the time and location she was found.”
KOIN-TV filed this report from the scene, which mentions that detectives haven’t ruled out that Mrs. Crippen could have been struck someone driving a car on Johnson Creek Blvd:
If you were riding in this area on Thursday night, detectives are looking for clues to figure out exactly what happened. Please call the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office’s confidential Tip Line at (503) 723-4949, or via their online contact form. The case number to reference is #11-35196.
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KGW says murdered, but KOIN says possible accident… where does KGW get their info?
I want to know if she originally had a bike, or if she was a pedestrian… curious if it’s a bike-related crime or just happened on the bike path…
Jonathan said it was a multi-use-path
It’s a call to people who use the path i.e. people walking and people on BIKES to contact the police if they have any information on this case.
Someone lost their life, through no fault of their own. It happened on a transportation corridor frequented by people on bikes. I would say that JM is correct to spread the word a little more widely via his bike blog.
so, let me sure i get this straight: we’re supposed to be scared. and we’re supposed to preume it was homeless people that killed this woman. and be scared of them. great story. great journalism.
Huh? It sounds like more information is needed to figure out what happened and perhaps a reader saw something that could help out the police.
Well, you tried to get it straight, but you sure as heck failed at getting it straight. Try reading the story again, more slowly this time.
I think maybe skeptic was reacting to the news clip, which implied that she’d been hurt by other homeless people, by including interviews with a neighbor who complained about the “too many” homeless people in the area, and path users who expressed the opinion that it was dangerous not because a homeless person had been killed, but because there were a lot of homeless people in the area.
I think that tinfoil hat is messing with your reception.
The CCSO has ruled this a homicide and the KOIN report said they are looking at a motor vehicle crash that happened in the same area at perhaps the same time in order to see if it is related.
Cue the KATU crowd complaining about how much money we spend on the “crime paths”. MOAR AMERICAN BIKE PATH MADNES!!1!
That makes every road a criminal has driven on a ‘crime street’.
“Oh no. We need streets to drive my car on! The streets are perfectly safe. It’s this crime path and the crime train TriMet keeps wasting money on that are the problem. If we got rid of those, Portland would have no crime.” This is what conservatives actually think if you read the KATU comments.
I think if I were to use an isolated path after dark in a questionable area, I might cosider carrying some protection.
Let’s not get ridiculous. This area *is* the 2nd highest crime rate in the county (disclosure: I formerly sat on the Citizen’s Advisory Committee for CCSO), but let’s give some numbers for perspective. In an average year, 3 people are murdered and 8 attempted murders occur in Clackamas County. That’s of a population of 381,000 people.
Highest crime is immediately north of Clackamas Mall, in the apartment complexes there – twice the crimes reported in the Johnson Creek/82nd Ave patrol area. Oh, and in the area in question, there was one murder last year. Here’s this year’s, you’re safe now. (pardon the flippancy, but this area really is not a problem)
CCSO has a lot of great, professional officers, and the Sheriff is a cyclist and pretty aware of the issues that can happen on multi-use paths – if anyone has any leads, please call the tip line.
For those interested in the crime stats for the county, here’s a link to last year’s report from the Sheriff’s Office.
No disrespect intended towards the family of the victim – all murders are a tragedy, and I hope CCSO is able to identify and arrest the perpetrator.