HELIX, Ore. (AP) — Umatilla County authorities suspect too much alcohol caused the death of a 22-year-old man following the Wheatstock music festival in Helix.
Sheriff John Trumbo says Joe West of Pendleton was pronounced dead early Sunday in the small Eastern Oregon farming community.
Trumbo says the sheriff’s office got a call for help shortly before 4 a.m. The only deputy on duty was in Hermiston at the time. He arrived on the scene about two hours later.
Trumbo says West reportedly consumed “copious amounts of alcohol” at the event, and it likely caused his death.
