A motorcyclist killed in a crash Friday night on the Ortega Highway has been identified as 26-year-old Richard Nordland, according to the Orange County coroner.
The crash took place around 7:30 p.m., about 13 miles east of San Juan Capistrano near Caspers Wilderness Park and Hot Spring Canyon Road.
Nordland was found in the road about 75 feet away from his motorcycle, and no other vehicles were involved in the crash, according to the CHP. Paramedics declared Nordland dead upon arrival.
Nordland, who grew up in Santa Clarita, was a corporal in the U.S. Marines and had just returned from a two-year duty in Okinawa, Japan, said his aunt, Fashia Skjelstad.
On the night of the crash, he was headed from Camp Pendleton to Paloma Valley High School in Menifee, where his cousin attended school and he and other military service members were scheduled to be honored at a football game, Skjelstad said.
“He knew what he wanted to do,” Skjelstad said. “He had a career set forth in the Marines. He had every intention of being a lifer.”
According to the coroner’s website, Nordland lost control of the motorcycle and crashed.
Contact the writer: tshimura@scng.com
