A 48-year-old driver and 17-year-old passenger died Friday, Sept. 18, when their vehicle left Highway 126 and struck a tree, Oregon State Police said.

The driver, Max Timothy Hill, from Newberg, died at the scene, as did the 17-year-old male passenger, who was not named.

Police responded just after 10 p.m. to the site of the crash, near the unincorporated community of Walton, roughly 30 miles east of Florence.

A preliminary investigation found that a red Subaru Forester driven by Hill was eastbound when it left the roadway for an unknown reason and struck a tree.

Other agencies responding included the Siuslaw Valley Fire Department and Western Lane EMS, and the investigation affected highway traffic for about four hours, state police said in a news release Tuesday