In the early hours of last Wednesday, a devastating single-vehicle accident claimed the life of a young mother and left her two small children injured in unincorporated Clackamas County. The Clackamas County Sheriff's Office, responding to the crash at SE 97th Avenue and SE Park Mountain Lane, discovered a 2021 Jeep Compass that had plunged down an embankment into a wooded area, flipping upside down. A Good Samaritan at the scene had managed to rescue one of the children before the deputies arrived, while the other child was still trapped inside the overturned vehicle.
According to official reports, the crash occurred just before 1 a.m., bringing emergency personnel quickly to the site where they faced the harrowing task of reaching the vehicle's passengers; unfortunately, the children’s mother was found deceased at the scene. After a steep and challenging descent, deputies and Clackamas Fire personnel successfully retrieved the second child, a one-year-old, from the mangled Jeep. Both children were taken to the hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening.
The aftermath of the collision was a grim scene that involved the close collaboration of several emergency units, including the sheriff's deputies and Clackamas Fire. The mother has been identified by the authorities as Mattie Lee Kelley, a 24-year-old resident of Happy Valley. While the family has been notified, the Oregon Department of Human Services (DHS) was also alerted to the incident, indicating a likely involvement in the care of the children moving forward.
Investigations into the cause of the crash are ongoing, but the Sheriff’s Office Criminal Reconstruction and Forensic Technicians (CRAFT) team suspects that impairment might have played a role in the tragic event. Preliminary findings suggest drugs or alcohol might have contributed to the sheriff's office is awaiting further evidence to confirm their suspicions. In the meantime, the local community has been shaken by the loss and the distressing circumstances under which two children have survived a crash that took their mother's life.
