Drug death, arrests, bus collision linked to concert weekend

GEORGE — A Seattle man was arrested Sunday following a suspected drug-related death, a Spokane Valley man was seriously injured early Friday morning after being struck by a bus, and numerous people were booked into the Grant County Jail on drug charges during an electronic music festival weekend that lured thousands of visitors to Live Nation’s Gorge Amphitheater and Campground.

The Grant County Sheriff’s Office reported that Quincy R. Travers, 28, of Seattle is linked to the death of a 27-year-old Olympia man at the popular concert venue, located about eight miles west of George, which was hosting the Bass Canyon festival.

The victim allegedly consumed drugs purchased from Travers, became ill, and later died at the venue’s medical facility, according to the sheriff’s office. The incident was reported shortly before 8 p.m. Saturday. An autopsy by the Grant County Coroner’s Office is planned this week.

Detectives from the county’s Interagency Narcotics Enforcement Team are investigating the incident as a suspected controlled-substance homicide. After speaking with the deceased man’s friends, INET officers reportedly conducted an undercover drug transaction with Travers and allegedly acquired cocaine, ketamine (an anesthetic painkiller), and MDMA (a psychedelic stimulant known as ecstasy or molly). 

Travers was arrested and booked into the Grant County Jail on suspicion of four counts of possession, manufacture, or distribution of a controlled substance and possession of a drug-alcohol-intoxicant telecommunications device by a prisoner.

Along with INET and the sheriff’s office, the ongoing investigation has involved federal and state drug enforcement personnel and Yakima County’s drug task force.

Additionally, Gorge concert venue operator Live Nation “provided vital assistance to INET during the investigation,” the sheriff’s office said in a press release posted on Facebook.

Bass Canyon is an annual three-day electronic dance music festival focused on heavy low-end bass, rhythmic drum beats, robotic sounds and elaborate laser productions. It was created in 2018 by the artist Excision and attracts tens of thousands of fans each year.

“The crowd behavior wasn’t so much a problem,” GCSO spokesman Kyle Foreman said in an emailed response to GCJ.news. Rather, it was the number of drug distributors who also came to the venue and campground, he said.

INET detectives made multiple undercover drug purchases that led to the arrests of at least 17 people who were booked into jail, including one man, 36-year-old Elijah Emil Passon, who was also wanted on an Oregon state warrant for multiple felony drug offenses earlier this month.

Authorities also received a smattering of calls regarding trespassing and disturbances over the weekend.

Around 1:30 a.m. Friday, deputies were notified of a vehicle-pedestrian collision near the amphitheater. According to the sheriff’s office, Alexis Eduardo Morga-Sevilla, 29, Spokane, was dressed in dark clothing and walking along Silica Road NW and Sagecliffe Road NW when he was struck by a bus driven by Mark Wanke, 69, of Ephrata.

Foreman said the pedestrian stepped into the path of the bus, which was traveling in its lane.

Morga-Sevilla sustained unspecified injuries and was airlifted to Central Washington Hospital in Wenatchee, then later transferred to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, said Foreman.

The accident is under investigation by the sheriff’s office.