On August 5th, 2016, at about 6:00 p.m., deputies responded to a location on the Rouge River near mile post 10 on Highway 230, to investigate the death of Oregon State Senator Alan Bates, age 71 of Medford. Senator Bates had been fishing with his son. They stopped at this location to clean fish and Senator Bates walked down to the river. After about 10 minutes, the Senator’s son went looking for his father and found Senator Bates in the water, deceased. It appears that Senator Bates may have suffered some sort of medical event. There is no sign of foul play. The cause of death is under investigation by the Medical Examiner’s office and an autopsy has been scheduled.
