WednesdAy • March 24, 2021 • Serving Central Oregon since 1903 • $1.50
SPORTS PULLOUT, A5-8
OSU-Cascades responds
to Alexander’s resignation
RETRIAL OF LUKE ANTON WIRKKALA | DAY 3
State presents more
witnesses, evidence
a houseguest, David Ryder,
31, with a close range blast
from a Remington pump-ac-
tion shotgun. Wirkkala says
he acted in self-defense after
Ryder strangled and tried to
rape him.
Witnesses on Tuesday in-
cluded police officers in-
volved in the initial investi-
gation and forensic analysts.
Evidence included photos
By GARReTT AndReWs
The Bulletin
REDMOND — The re-
trial of Luke Anton Wirkkala,
which entered its third day
Tuesday, offered familiar ev-
idence, with numerous wit-
nesses careful to repeat their
exact testimony from the
original murder trial in 2014.
Wirkkala is accused of
the Feb. 4, 2013, killing of
By JACKsOn HOGAn
The Bulletin
showing obvious scratches
on Wirkkala’s neck — the
same images seen on plac-
ards waved by relatives out-
side the Deschutes County
Courthouse several weekends
ahead of trial.
Wirkkala testified in the
first trial he feared for his life.
He said it was a side of Ryder
he’d never seen before.
See Wirkkala / A4
The resignation of Oregon
State University President
F. King Alexander Tuesday
shouldn’t impact students
and faculty at Oregon State
University-Cascades, accord-
ing to the leader of the Bend
campus.
“I don’t think it will have
a great, immediate impact,”
Becky Johnson, vice president
of OSU-Cascades, told The
Bulletin on Tuesday.
Alexander resigned after
reports showed he mishan-
dled sexual misconduct cases
during his time as the president
of Louisiana State University.
Last week, the university
board of trustees put Alex-
ander on probation, but an
angry reaction from OSU
students, alumni and faculty
changed that decision. The
board accepted Alexander’s
resignation during its meeting
Tuesday.
Johnson agreed that OSU
INSIDE
• New OSU president resigns, A4
needed a new leader.
“I think that given the
feedback that the board has
received from faculty, staff
and students over the last few
days, this is the right thing for
Dr. Alexander to do, and the
right thing for the board to
accept his resignation,” John-
son told The Bulletin.
See Alexander / A4
COVID-19
county
risk levels
continue
to improve
Jared Leisek, a scuba
diver from Redmond
who runs the popular
youTube channel
Adventures with
Purpose, recovered
these two cars from the
Willamette River in 2019:
a red Jaguar (left) at the
Oak Grove boat ramp
downriver from Oregon
City, and a Mazda (right)
near the sellwood
Bridge in Portland.
By GARy A. WARneR
Oregon Capital Bureau
Oregon’s new COVID-19
risk levels show improving
conditions around the state as
officials expect to pass the 1
million shot mark on vaccina-
tions.
“We are seeing the light at
the end of the tunnel get a little
brighter,” Gov. Kate Brown said
Tuesday in a statement.
Counties are assigned one
of four risk levels based on the
spread of COVID-19 infec-
tions: extreme, high, moder-
ate and lower. The higher the
level, the more restrictions on
activities, businesses and gath-
erings.
The new risk levels will go
into effect Friday.
Overall, the news was good
as none of the state’s 10 most
populous counties is in the
extreme risk category and
just three are high.
The rest are moderate or
lower risk.
In January, 27 out of the
state’s 36 counties were rated as
extreme risk, including most
of the population centers in
Oregon.
Submitted photos
SEARCH & RECOVERY
Redmond man uses
scuba diving to
recover vehicles and
remains of loved ones
By KyLe sPURR
The Bulletin
J
ared Leisek, a former
residential developer
See Risk / A12
in Redmond, decided three
years ago to reconnect with
Bend to use
recycled tires
in street
preservation
his passion for scuba diving
and use his underwater skills
to remove debris from the
Ryan Brennecke/The Bulletin
Deschutes River.
Jared Leisek, of Redmond, stands in his trailer full of equipment he uses when scuba diving during recovery missions
around the country.
Leisek cleared thousands of
pounds of trash from the water
in one year and then started
to find unusual items, such as
guns and vehicles. In 2019 he
even found an urn filled with
ashes that was accidentally
dropped in the river seven
years earlier.
He filmed his findings and
posted them on the YouTube
channel Adventures with Pur-
pose with the help of his wife and
two daughters. Eventually, Leisek
gained an audience that has now
reached more than 1 million sub-
scribers.
People started asking him to
travel the country to help recover
sunken vehicles and bodies. To
date, Leisek estimates he’s recov-
ered seven bodies and found more
than 100 vehicles.
His effort to help the environ-
ment morphed into a national ef-
fort to solve cold cases of missing
people and vehicles.
“It’s a trajectory I never thought
would have taken me here when I
started getting in the water,” Leisek
said.
Leisek, 45, travels for a month or
two at a time with his family and a
few volunteers to do water recov-
eries. He’s been to Kansas, Iowa
and as far east as New Jersey.
The scuba diving recoveries have
become a full-time job for Leisek,
who relies on donations, volunteers
and income from his YouTube
channel.
Last month, Leisek and his crew
were able to assist law enforcement
officials in Portland and recover
the body of 57-year-old Antonio
Amaro- Lopez, who died after driv-
ing his car off the Glenn Jackson
Bridge in a winter storm.
Leisek said he finds submerged
vehicles using two sonar systems
and three different screens while
floating slowly at 1 to 2 mph in a
small boat.
By KyLe sPURR
The Bulletin
The city of Bend is planning
several street improvement
projects this spring and sum-
mer, including some that will
use recycled tires in a coating
to pave roads.
The first project will begin
Monday, when crews will re-
pave the roundabout at Skylin-
ers Road and Mt. Washington
Drive. Detours will be in place
until the work is completed
April 23.
See diving / A4
TODAY’S
WEATHER
Low clouds
High 51, Low 32
Page A12
INDEX
Business
Classifieds
Comics
A11
A13
A9-10
Dear Abby
Editorial
Horoscope
A7
A8
A7
Local/State A2-4, 12
Lottery
A6
Nation/World A12
Obituaries
Puzzles
Sports
A4
A10
A5-7
The Bulletin
An Independent Newspaper
We use
recycled
newsprint
Vol. 119, No. 71, 14 pages, 1 section
DAILY
See streets / A12
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