A Cherokee man has been found guilty in a fatal Highway 3 crash that killed a Nemaha woman a year ago.
A Buena Vista County jury found 28‑year‑old Jorge Ortega‑Ortega guilty of homicide by vehicle last Thursday, March 12, following a three-day trial in Storm Lake. The verdict comes almost exactly one year after the crash that claimed the life of 65-year-old Rose Bumsted.
The accident happened early on the morning of March 19, 2025, as a blizzard swept across northern Buena Vista County. Deputies were dispatched around 6:25 a.m. to the 100 mile of Highway 3, between Alta and the Buena Vista-Cherokee County line, where two vehicles had collided head-on in near-whiteout conditions.
According to court documents and testimony presented at trial, Ortega‑Ortega was driving a 2020 Honda Civic westbound when he activated his left turn signal, crossed into the eastbound lane, and continued driving in the wrong lane for roughly a mile. Investigators say he passed a “no passing” sign and repeatedly crossed both the center line and the fog line before striking Bumsted’s eastbound vehicle near the intersection of Highway 3 and County Road M27.
Authorities told jurors that the events leading up to the crash were captured on an in‑car camera inside Ortega‑Ortega’s vehicle. The video showed him repeatedly failing to maintain his lane, drifting across both lines, and driving directly into oncoming traffic for an extended distance before the collision.
Bumsted was transported to Buena Vista Regional Medical Center in Storm Lake, where she died from her injuries. Ortega‑Ortega was hospitalized in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
The Buena Vista County Sheriff’s Office initially described his driving as reckless, even amid the blizzard conditions, which brought 60-mile-per-hour wind gusts and nearly 10 inches of snow to the region that morning.
Ortega‑Ortega was arrested on April 23, 2025, and charged with vehicular homicide. He remained held on a $20,000 bond as the case moved toward trial.
Ortega‑Ortega faces up to 10 years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for Tuesday, May 5, at the Buena Vista County Courthouse.
