Storm Lake, Iowa — A criminal charge has been filed over a month after a two-vehicle crash left one woman dead east of Cherokee.
According to court documents, 28-year-old Jorge Ortega-Ortega of Cherokee has been charged with one count of homicide by vehicle – reckless driving. This charge stems from a Wednesday, March 19, 2025, crash that resulted in the death of 65-year-old Rose Bumsted of Nemaha.
Court documents show the crash happened at about 6:25 a.m. on Iowa Highway 3 in Buena Vista County. Authorities say Ortega-Ortega was driving a 2020 Honda Civic west on the highway when he put his left turn signal on and moved to the eastbound lane. This was near the County Highway M27 and Highway 3 intersection, seven miles east of Cherokee. Ortega-Ortega’s westbound Honda Civic collided head-on with another vehicle going east on the highway’s eastbound lane. The driver of the other vehicle, Bumsted, died from the injuries she received in the crash.
Authorities say that events leading up to the collision were captured on an in-car camera in Ortega-Ortega’s car, and the video shows him 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.
Ortega-Ortega was booked into the Buena Vista County Jail on a $20,000 cash-only bond.
