Police charge driver involved in fatal incident near Whitehorse last year
Seth Michael Jorgensen charged with careless driving after vehicle went into Yukon River, killing passenger
Police in Yukon have charged an American man with careless driving after an incident last fall that left a man dead in the Yukon River south of Whitehorse.
In a news release on Wednesday, RCMP say they have concluded their investigation into single-vehicle collision that happened at the Lewes River bridge last September.
Seth Michael Jorgensen was driving a pickup truck towing a trailer on the Alaska Highway on Sept. 16, and Knate Ostenso was a passenger in the vehicle. The truck and trailer went off the road and into the Yukon River at the bridge.
Ostenso's family told CBC News last year that Jorgensen told them he was driving the truck when he saw headlights coming toward him and that he swerved to avoid the oncoming vehicle. The family said he told them that next thing he knew, he was in the Yukon River and the cab was filling with water within seconds.
Jorgensen was able to escape the vehicle and safely make it to shore but Ostenso went missing. Ostenso's body was found in the river several weeks later.
Both Ostenso and Jorgensen were from Phoenix, Ariz. At the time of the incident, they were hauling a trailer of Volkswagen vehicles from Alaska to Arizona.
RCMP say Jorgensen will appear in Yukon Territorial Court on Oct. 8.