Next of kin sought in motorcycle death

By KATU.com and News Wires Published: Oct 4, 2009 at 3:35 PM PST Last Updated: Oct 5, 2009 at 5:03 AM PST
Scene of a Highway 97 double-fatality crash.
Scene of the Highway 97 crash on Friday, where two on a motorcycle died. Both were wearing protective gear.

CHILOQUIN, Ore. - The names of the two motorcyclists who fell victim to an SUV passing a truck on Highway 97 are being released.

Next of kin is being sought for this man, John Lyman Howell.Oregon State Police troopers now are asking for public help to locate next of kin for one of the victims, John Lyman Howell. (Howell's driver's license photograph is provided to help make the identification.)

Howell, 65, was operating the motorcycle. His passenger was 49-year-old James M. Scott. Both are from Reno, Nev. Both were wearing protective helmets and both were pronounced dead at the scene.

Police believe the two men had left Tulalip, Wash., after visiting friends - and were returning to Nevada. 

Anyone with information to help identify and contact Howell's next of kin is asked to call Oregon State Police Southern Command Center dispatch at (541) 776-6111.  Information should be forwarded to Senior Trooper Joseph Smith at Oregon's Gilchrist work site.