The press release came out on Thursday. A 22-year-old man from Dallas was killed in an early morning single-vehicle car crash on Highway 22 near the Highway 223 Dallas cutoff.

It turned out that the victim was not just another statistic. Cody Robert McDaniel was a friend, a neighbor, co-worker and schoolmate to many in the West Valley.

"The wind was taken out of my sails with the news that one of my son's friends died in a car wreck this morning," Shelley Harman posted on Facebook on Thursday afternoon.

Memories of McDaniel, who was a neighbor of the Harmans, stretch back many years. "He was very well liked at school," she said.

Many of those friendships continued on past the school years as demonstrated by a long list of Facebook friends—people from all over the West Valley, including a former FFA advisor who was with him at the 2005 FFA Nationals in Louisville, Kent. when McDaniel was on the Parliamentary Procedure team that brought home a bronze ranking.

Other people expressed their sorrow at the loss. "So hard for a small community that had grown up together," posted Shari Shell.

Tire tracks that left the snow and ice-covered westbound lane of the highway and ended off the shoulder in water tell the tragic story of a journey cut short. McDaniel worked for Hofenbredl Timber. He didn't make it to work on Thursday morning.

According to an Oregon State Police report, McDaniel was expected in the Grand Ronde area around 6 a.m. At approximately 7:05 a.m. a state trooper patrolling the area spotted tires of a vehicle upside down in approximately five feet of water bordering the highway.

He did not know the vehicle was occupied.

The trooper requested assistance from Dallas Fire and Rescue. Using a winch, firefighters turned the 1983 Toyota pickup over and found McDaniel inside.

The highway was closed for approximately four hours. OSP was assisted by firefighters, the Polk County Sheriff's Office and ODOT at the scene of the crash. The Polk County medical examiner is assisting OSP in the investigation.

A funeral service for McDaniel will be held at 11 a.m. on March 8 at Macy and Son in McMinnville.