2 people killed when car crashes into tree, then hits train, Washington State Patrol says

Two Cowlitz County residents were pronounced dead at the scene of a single-vehicle crash early Sunday after their car left the roadway and struck a tree, then a train car near the Columbia River.

According to a news release from the Washington State Patrol, Kalama residents Logan R. Kallwick, 33, and Taylor R. Lavigne, 23, were traveling south on I-5 at around 1:30 a.m. in an Audi R8 just north of Exit 27 when the car left the roadway to the right, went up an embankment and struck a tree.

The car continued traveling and struck a train rail car that contained liquid propane before coming to a rest. The Cowlitz County coroner confirmed the IDs of the victims. The two weren’t wearing their seatbelts, and it’s unclear whether drugs or alcohol was involved.

The cause of the crash is still under investigation.

This story was originally published December 18, 2023 at 10:23 AM.

Ty Vinson

The Olympian

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Ty Vinson covers the City of Olympia and keeps tabs on Tumwater and other communities in Thurston County. He joined The Olympian in 2021. Before that, he earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism at Indiana University. In college, he worked as an intern at the Northwest Indiana Times, the Oregonian and the Arizona Republic as a Pulliam Fellow. Support my work with a digital subscription