GRANTS PASS — A Eugene man died Tuesday night on Interstate 5 after a wrong-way driver crashed into his pickup and two other vehicles just south of Grants Pass.

Police say a preliminary investigation shows that 81-year-old Malcolm Henry Armstrong of Days Creek was driving south in the northbound lanes of the freeway near milepost 53 at 11:42 p.m. when his pickup sideswiped a pickup driven by Nicholas King, an 18-year-old from Grants Pass, according to Oregon State Police. Armstrong's truck then hit a minivan driven by Scott Wesley Kemp, 41, of Escalon, Calif., before hitting another pickup, police said.

The driver of the last pickup, who was later identified as 28-year-old Michael Brent Police, died instantly when Armstrong's vehicle hit his pickup head-on, investigators said. Police was alone in his vehicle.

Armstrong was thrown from his vehicle and suffered serious injuries. He remained at Three Rivers Community Hospital in Grants Pass late Wednesday, the OSP said.

Police in Jackson County said Armstrong had been the subject of a missing/endangered person search because of possible memory-related issues.

King and Kemp and passengers in their vehicles, which included two children ages 7 and 9, were not injured.

Northbound lanes of Interstate 5 were closed for two hours as troopers investigated the four-vehicle accident.

It is not known at this time if Armstrong was wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash, OSP said.