Oregon state senator’s wife struck, killed on Interstate 5

PORTLAND – Oregon State Police are investigating a fatal crash that killed the wife of a state senator.

Oregon Public Broadcasting reported that a semitruck hauling a box trailer was unable to avoid 54-year-old Leta Baertschiger while she was out walking in the right lane of Interstate 5 near Grants Pass.

Baertschiger is the wife of Herman Baertschiger, a Republican state senator from southern Oregon.

State police are unsure why the woman was walking along the interstate.

Baertschiger is survived by her husband and two sons.