Death of Newport High Graduate Confirmed in Oregon Bus Crash

Richard Michael Sohn, a 19-year-old college Seattle Pacific University sophomore from Bellevue, was the last fatality confirmed in an Oregon tour bus crash that claimed the lives of nine people, the Oregon State Police reported Tuesday.

The Dec. 30, 2012, bus crash injured 38 others along Interstate 84 east of Pendleton, OR. Eight of the injured are reportedly still being treated in a hospital, according to Oregon State Police.

According to Oregon State Police, investigators believe 47 people, including the driver, were on board when around 10 a.m. Dec. 30,  the bus while traveling in the left westbound lane of Interstate 84 collided with the concrete barrier along the left shoulder of the two lane highway. The bus veered across both westbound lanes and struck a metal guardrail before going about 200 feet down a steep, snow-covered embankment. The first call to 9-1-1 was received about 10:09 a.m., about four minutes after the crash, according to OSP.

Sohn was a college student who recently graduated from Newport High School, according to published reports.

He was feared dead after the crash by friends, who cited reports from the Korean Consulate in Canada.

Sohn aspired to be a filmmaker and he posted short comedy videos on YouTube, according to the published reports on KING 5 news and in The Seattle Times.

Sohn's friends took to Twitter after reports of his death circulated. 

Ashley Horn @Bombsh311 wrote: @RichardSohn You had such a strange sense of humor. But it always made the people around you crack up.