Woman busted for fatal 1997 DUI crash after she was heard bragging about horrific crash at a bar in Canada where she had fled to

Jean Keating disappeared while on trial for manslaughter in the 1997 death of Jewel Anderson

Earlier this year, she was overheard bragging at a bar in Canada about beating the rap in Anderson's death

Keating currently is in custody in Oregon



By Daily Mail Reporter

An Oregon women who vanished more than 15 years ago while on trial for manslaughter for allegedly killing a woman in a drunk driving accident was found in Canada earlier this year after Canadian authorities got a tip about an American woman at a bar bragging about how she'd gotten away with killing someone in a DUI wreck.

Jean Terese Keating, 54, was extradited back to Oregon in June, where she faces charges of first-degree manslaughter, DUI, reckless driving and three counts of recklessly endangering another person for the 1997 wreck that killed 65-year-old Jewel Anderson.

According to authorities, on April 13, 1997, a then-38-year-old Keating allegedly was driving drunk on Interstate 5 near Albany, Oregon, when she sideswiped Anderson's car.

Fugitive: Jean Keating, seen here in a 1997 mugshot, was a fugitive hiding in Canada for more than 16 years

The collision caused Anderson to lose control of her vehicle and cross the median into oncoming traffic.

Anderson collided head-on with an oncoming vehicle and was killed in the accident. Keating and several other motorists involved in the wreck suffered only minor injuries.



In March 1998, while awaiting trial, Keating's attorney told authorities he couldn't get in touch with her and that he was worried she'd 'flown the coop.'

A bench warrant was issued for Keating's arrest, but she was long gone.



Authorities in Oregon spent years following leads hoping to someday track Keating down so she could stand trial. But years passed, and the troopers who initially had worked the case had retired.



In 2008, Oregon State Police Sergeant Eric Judah and Detective Howard Greer took on the cold case and followed up on new leads, according to KVAL.com.

In early 2013, a police officer in Manitoba, Canada, contacted the Oregon State Police to report that they'd received a tip that a woman from Oregon was bragging to people at a bar that she'd gotten away with the a DUI wreck that killed a woman several years ago.

Victim: Jewel-Anderson's family has waited 16 years for her alleged killer to be brought to justice

Canadian authorities were able to identify the woman because she'd previously been arrested for DUI in Canada and her mugshot and fingerprints were stored in a law enforcement database.



Authorities then matched the fingerprints in the Canadian database to Keating's fingerprints in an American law enforcement database and were able to confirm that she was in fact the fugitive suspect in Anderson's death.

In April, Keating was detained by the Canadian Immigration Division and ordered her to be deported. On June 13, Keating was back in Oregon where she immediately was taken into custody.

Upon learning the woman who allegedly killer their loved one was back in custody after 16 years on the run, Anderson's family members issued the following statement.

'While there is no price to be put on repayment for taking a life, and it certainly won't bring Jewel (at right) back, we are thankful that finally after 16 years of her running, hiding and torment, our families will have some closure; knowing that Teresa Jean Keating is in custody and justice will be served.



'In the past 16 years we have felt hurt, betrayed, confused and most of all a void in our lives. We have missed her not getting to be at all our happy occasions like graduations, weddings, births, birthdays and many more.

'Jewel was the sweetest woman anyone has ever known; a mother, sister, aunt, mother-in-law, grandmother and great-grandmother. She was a stranger to no one and loved holidays, family gatherings like picnics and reunions and traveling. Her home was home to anyone, and she would help anyone that needed down to her last dime or the shirt off her back. Above all, she loved her family and God.



'One single action can have a tremendous impact. What happened on April 13, 1997 was a truly devastating event; not only for our family but for the people in the second vehicle involved in the accident, and I'm sure Teresa's family as well. However to call this an accident would be an outright lie - the act of getting behind the wheel of that car by Teresa Jean Keating was very much intentional. Where she was going, what she was thinking - all that is irrelevant - too drunk to drive, is too drunk to drive. All of our families have suffered a tremendous loss.'