Cherokee Man Jorge Ortega-Ortega Convicted of Vehicular Homicide in Highway 3 Crash

A Buena Vista County jury found Jorge Ardany Ortega-Ortega guilty of homicide by vehicle on March 12, convicting the 28-year-old Cherokee man in the blizzard-morning crash that killed 65-year-old Rose Bumsted of Nemaha nearly one year earlier.

The verdict came on the third day of trial in Storm Lake, after jurors heard evidence that Ortega-Ortega drove his 2020 Honda Civic westbound in the eastbound lane of Iowa Highway 3 for roughly a mile before striking Bumsted's eastbound vehicle head-on near the intersection of Highway 3 and County Road M27, about nine miles east of Cherokee.

The crash occurred 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 area between Alta and the Buena Vista-Cherokee County line, where the two vehicles had collided in near-whiteout conditions.

Authorities said an in-car camera in Ortega-Ortega's vehicle captured his movements in the minutes before impact. "This video shows [Ortega-Ortega] failing to maintain the proper lane of travel, crossing the center line, as well as the fog line on several occasions, and driving for an extended period in the opposite lane of travel before causing the crash," authorities stated in court documents. Investigators noted he had activated his left turn signal before moving into the eastbound lane and passed a posted "No Passing" sign before the collision.

Ortega-Ortega was arrested and booked into the Buena Vista County Jail on April 23, 2025, approximately five weeks after the crash. He was held on a $20,000 bond and pleaded not guilty to homicide by vehicle in June 2025. His trial began March 10 in Storm Lake.

He now faces up to 10 years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for Tuesday, May 5, at the Buena Vista County Courthouse.