Amity woman dies in Highway 99W crash

An Amity woman was killed Monday afternoon in a three-vehicle crash about two miles south of McMinnville on Highway 99W.

Oregon State Police Lt. Doug Shugart identified her as Kristyanne Beenfeldt DeVries, 65. She was transported by McMinnville Fire Department ambulance to the Willamette Valley Medical Center, and transferred to Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, where she died.

Three air ambulance services were unable to respond to the crash because of inclement weather.

DeVries, who was the lone occupant of a 2007 Toyota Yaris, was due to retire today from OHSU, according to Shugart. Her husband, Dirk DeVries, retired last Saturday from OHSU, the lieutenant said.

"They were getting ready to start their retired lives together," Shugart said.

He gave this account of the crash:

About 4 p.m., Terrance Chitwood, 67, of Amity, was driving a 2010 Ford Flex southbound when he crossed the centerline and collided head-on with the Yaris.

Michael Miller, 37, of Corvallis, was operating a 1999 Subaru Forester and traveling northbound behind DeVires' vehicle, and collided with Chitwood's vehicle.

Chitwood and his passenger, Doris Chitwood, 34, of Amity, were transported by ground ambulance to Willamette Valley Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries.

Miller and his passenger, Lindsey Patterson, 34, of Corvallis, were transported by ambulance to Salem Hospital with injuries not considered life-threatening.

Shugart said the investigation is continuing, and Terrance Chitwood is cooperating.

Highway 99W was closed for four hours while the investigation took place and the scene was cleared. In addition to OSP and the McMinnville Fire Department, the Yamhill County Sheriff's Office and Oregon Department of Transportation also resonded.

More than a dozen people have died on Yamhill Valley roads this year, several of them in recent months.

Crashes had claimed 409 lives this year in Oregon through Dec. 16, according to the state Department of Transportation. That figure compares to 340 in 2014, an increase of 20.3 percent.