Head-on collision kills Sisters man

A van driven by Greg Martinez crashed head-on into another vehicle Saturday night. photo by Eric Dolson

Greg Martinez, 56, of Sisters died Saturday, November 15, after he plowed his van head-on into an oncoming Ford Expedition just east of Sisters.

Debra Haglund and Jodi Murillo, both of Sisters, survived the crash with injuries.

According to Deschutes County Sheriff's Office reports, the accident occurred shortly after 6 p.m. on a dark and rainy night.

Martinez was driving a full-sized 1981 Ford van eastbound in the wrong lane without headlights. Alcohol may have been a factor in the accident, according to sheriff's reports.

Jodi Murillo was a passenger in the 1997 Ford Expedition, driven by Haglund.

She recalled seeing a driver coming toward them, flashing his lights. She realized later that the driver was trying to warn them of the oncoming van. At the time, she and Haglund looked down to see if Haglund's bright lights were on.

The occupants of this Ford Expedition survived. photo by Eric Dolson

"When we looked up, there was a van right in front of us and we hit together," Murillo reported.

"I think I was knocked out, because I don't remember much after I saw the van," she said.

The driver who had tried to warn them ran to the scene of the wreck and Sisters fire personnel arrived shortly afterward. They broke Murillo's window to gain access to her and cut her seatbelt off.

The airbags in the Expedition both deployed.

Murillo suffered a broken finger, a cut on the head, a cut on her neck from her seatbelt and considerable bruising from her lap belt and shoulder harness.

Haglund was more seriously injured, suffering a cracked sternum, broken ribs, an ankle Murillo described as "torn apart" and a broken leg. She remained at St. Charles Medical Center at press time. Murillo was discharged.

Martinez died at the scene.

Murillo noted that she and Haglund were fortunate to have been driving the big Ford SUV. They had almost taken her minivan on their trip to Bend and back.

"I don't think the minivan... would have come out as well," she said.