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Fugutive Found in 16 year old Oregon DUII Fatal Crash

A case that had gone cold got a breath of new life sixteen years later - a woman, wanted since a 1997 fatal traffic crash on Interstate 5 north of Albany, was located in Manitoba, Canada.

 

The fugitive, who was living under an assumed name, was lodged yesterday afternoon in the Linn County Jail.

 

Oregon State Police say 54 year old JEAN TERESE KEATING was indicted by a Grand Jury in June 1997 for Manslaughter in the First Degree, DUII, Reckless Driving, and three counts of Recklessly Endangering Another Person. The 1997 crash killed a 65 year old woman from Dexter, Oregon.

 

KEATING was awaiting trial when in March of 1998 her attorney said he lost contact and was concerned she had "flown the coop". she was tracked down recently by police after allegedly "bragging" about getting away with the fatal DUII crash.

 

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Here's the complete news release from the Oregon State Police:

 

 

A case that had gone cold got a breath of new life sixteen years later when a woman, wanted since a 1997 fatal traffic crash on Interstate 5 north of Albany, was located in Manitoba, Canada and is now in custody in Oregon. The wanted fugitive, who was living under an assumed name, was lodged Thursday afternoon, July 18, 2013, in the Linn County Jail after fleeing Oregon and several years later being found and taken into custody in Canada.

JEAN TERESE KEATING, age 54, is being held in custody pending appearance in Linn County Circuit Court following a Grand Jury indictment in June 1997 for Manslaughter in the First Degree, DUII, Reckless Driving, and three counts of Recklessly Endangering Another Person.

The indictment was issued following an OSP investigation into a fatal traffic crash that occurred Sunday afternoon, April 13, 1997 on Interstate 5 near milepost 237. A vehicle driven by KEATING, who was 38 at the time and residing in Milwaukie, Oregon, was northbound when it sideswiped another vehicle driven by Jewel Oline Anderson, age 65, from Dexter. Anderson lost control of her vehicle and crossed through the center median where her vehicle was involved in a collision with another vehicle. Anderson was pronounced deceased at the scene. KEATING was not injured and the other involved driver received non-life threatening injuries.

KEATING was awaiting trial when in March 1998 her attorney said he lost contact and was concerned she had "flown the coop". The Linn County Circuit Court issued a bench warrant for her arrest and it was entered in the Law Enforcement Data System (LEDS) and National Crime Information Center (NCIC) databases.

During the years since she went missing, dead-end tips were received and OSP troopers who investigated the fatal crash had retired. But, the victim's family and law enforcement didn't stop trying to find KEATING who was never reported by her family as missing to law enforcement. OSP Sergeant Eric Judah and Detective Howard Greer, who in 2008 took this as a cold case while working as a patrol trooper in Albany, continued to look into any tips that came to light.

In early 2013, OSP received information that a police officer in Manitoba, Canada, had found KEATING after following up on information that a woman was at a bar talking about getting away with a DUII-involved fatal crash in the United States several years ago. After identifying who the woman was based upon a past DUII arrest in Canada, the police officer in Manitoba got her fingerprints in Canada and had a comparison match run with fingerprints in the United States' database. Positive identification was made and OSP was notified KEATING was in Manitoba, Canada.

On April 8, 2013, a member of the Canadian Immigration Division detained KEATING and took her into custody pending a deportation hearing. A Deportation Order was issued April 18. On June 13, OSP was notified KEATING was in custody of the U.S. Marshals Service in North Dakota where she was held until her return to Oregon.

After confirmation she was back in U.S. custody, OSP notified the family of victim Jewel Anderson. They provided the following statement to OSP to share with the media and public:

"While there is no price to be put on repayment for taking a life, and it certainly won't bring Jewel back, we are thankful that finally after 16 years of her running, hiding and torment, our families will have some closure; knowing that Teresa Jean Keating is in custody and justice will be served.

In the past 16 years we have felt hurt, betrayed, confused and most of all a void in our lives. We have missed her not getting to be at all our happy occasions like graduations, weddings, births, birthdays and many more.

Jewel was the sweetest woman anyone has ever known; a mother, sister, aunt, mother-in-law, grandmother and great-grandmother. She was a stranger to no one and loved holidays, family gatherings like picnics and reunions and traveling. Her home was home to anyone, and she would help anyone that needed down to her last dime or the shirt off her back. Above all, she loved her family and God.

One single action can have a tremendous impact. What happened on April 13, 1997 was a truly devastating event; not only for our family but for the people in the second vehicle involved in the accident, and I'm sure Teresa's family as well. However to call this an accident would be an outright lie - the act of getting behind the wheel of that car by Teresa Jean Keating was very much intentional. Where she was going, what she was thinking - all that is irrelevant - too drunk to drive, is too drunk to drive. All of our families have suffered a tremendous loss."

Note: Questions about upcoming court appearance should be directed to Linn County District Attorney's Office on Friday, July 19. Deputy District Attorney Ryan Lucke is handling the case.

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OSP thanks the following agencies for their help during this matter:

* Citizenship and Immigration Canada
* Canada Border Services Agency
* Royal Canadian Mounted Police
* Manitoba, Canada police
* U.S. Marshals Service
* Linn County District Attorney's Office
* Linn County Sheriff's Office
* OSP Criminal Investigations Division and Patrol Services Division


 

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