One dead near explosion on highway near Mount Hood

RHODODENDRON, Ore. — One person was found dead Thursday near the site of an explosion along U.S. Highway 26 on the flanks of Mount Hood, but the FBI said it’s too soon to determine the cause of death.

The FBI was leading an investigation that unfolded for hours Thursday along the normally busy highway.

Traffic was rerouted as a bomb-disposal team cautiously inspected a white car parked on the side of the road near woods about 45 miles east of Portland.

FBI spokeswoman Beth Anne Steele said there was damage to the car, and agents believe an explosion occurred outside the vehicle. Steele said a body was found, but she wouldn’t say where. The medical examiner will determine cause of death, she said.

Livestreamed video from a KGW-TV news helicopter showed a robot inspecting the vehicle and then an officer wearing bomb-disposal gear going in for a closer look. The officer looked inside a cardboard box that had been pulled from the vehicle and X-rayed a backpack.

As of late afternoon, the highway was still shut down as officials collected evidence and made sure the area was safe.