Environment

Body Found: Elderly Man Dies of Cold & Starvation After Surviving Two Months in Oregon Woods

Body Found: Elderly Man Dies of Cold & Starvation After Surviving Two Months in Oregon Woods
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The body of a man was found in his pickup truck on a mountain road, along with a calendar he kept of his ordeal for nearly 70 days, authorities said Friday.

The Linn County sheriff’s office said the log kept by Jerry McDonald showed he became stranded on Feb. 14.

The entry read: “Heavy snow. Snowed in.”

His first log entry was Feb. 7, indicating he had been in the area for a week before he became stuck. The last entry was on April 15, about 60 days later.

A U.S. Forest Service survey crew found his body Thursday in a sleeping bag in the back of his 1997 GMC pickup truck on a one-lane dirt road about four miles from Marion Forks. The forest service road is in the remote foothills of the Cascade Range, about 70 miles east of Salem.

By late February, McDonald was detailing the weather and repeating his location, “Horn Rd.,” daily.

Body Found: Elderly Man Dies of Cold & Starvation After Surviving Two Months in Oregon Woods

Linn County Sheriff Office

“The road Mr. McDonald was on is in a mountainous area of east Linn County and the way in or out would have been impassable once it snowed,” said Sheriff Tim Mueller. “There were no indications that he had attempted to walk out of the area.”

McDonald was carrying $5,000 in cash. There were no signs of foul play and he had not been reported missing.

Deputies said McDonald had warm clothing and water but no food or cell phone.

The calendar showed that he scrawled brief notes about the weather daily. “Snowed 1 foot night,” he wrote on March 15.

He marked April 12 as the day his motor vehicle registration expired.

Body Found: Elderly Man Dies of Cold & Starvation After Surviving Two Months in Oregon Woods

The discovery of McDonald’s body came nearly a week after a Canadian woman who had gone missing with her husband in Oregon was found alive in a stranded van in a remote part of northeastern Nevada. Officials have not yet found Rita Chretien’s husband, Albert, who had set off on foot weeks earlier in search of help.

There have been several cases of motorists getting stranded on remote roads in the back woods of Oregon during the past couple of years. In 2006, San Francisco journalist James Kim died of hypothermia after he, his wife and two children became stranded in Oregon’s southern mountains.

Comments (118)

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  • Unix
    Posted on May 14, 2011 at 8:32pm

    hey i’m just an operating system what do i know right….ROFLOL

    Report Post » Unix  
  • Unix
    Posted on May 14, 2011 at 8:27pm

    LOL, what you don’t realize is HAWT is WAY ahead of us lol

    Report Post » Unix  
  • Unix
    Posted on May 14, 2011 at 8:24pm

    yeah there ya go $5000K in cash, too bad he could not eat it or whatever, prepeare with STUFF, not the worthless cash we have now…i pity the fools who hoard cash lol

    Report Post » Unix  
  • Unix
    Posted on May 14, 2011 at 8:21pm

    this is your lot if not prepared…America the beautiful just became ugly…i pity the fools…the whole world is in a debt crisis and no one is watching, amazing…unfolding right before your eyes…good luck to you, while i kiss my .223

    Report Post » Unix  
  • A Doctors Labor Is Not My Right
    Posted on May 14, 2011 at 8:11pm

    There’s no reason to report someone on a blog, unless they’re spamming.

    Report Post »  
  • lpauline
    Posted on May 14, 2011 at 8:09pm

    How do we request that someone have their posting rights removed.

    Report Post »  
  • katetomlinson
    Posted on May 14, 2011 at 8:07pm

    @hawt&secksie…You are very inappropriate. Your comments are disgusting and as much as I respect the right that you have to speak your mind I really wish your mind wasnt the dark, dank garbage hole that it appears to be. Ill pray for you.

    Report Post »  
  • katetomlinson
    Posted on May 14, 2011 at 8:03pm

    Thats a very inappropriate comment!

    Report Post »  
  • TheGreyPiper
    Posted on May 14, 2011 at 7:56pm

    Anyone else having issues with the “report post” function? If we can gang up and report that vulgar toadstool up there, maybe we can at least get his loathesome shht off here.

    Report Post » TheGreyPiper  
  • cologoddess
    Posted on May 14, 2011 at 7:54pm

    I don’t get how no one missed this poor soul and reported him missing….. poor thing. God Bless you.

    Report Post » cologoddess  
  • coladude
    Posted on May 14, 2011 at 7:52pm

    Too bad he wasn’t found.

    http://politicalbowl.com – Political Videos

    Report Post »  
  • staythecourse
    Posted on May 14, 2011 at 7:42pm

    People go “missing” all the time. This has been going on since man first stepped on this continent and it will continue until the government decides it is unsafe for someone to venture into the woods without first getting a biometric tracking device implanted. All of those previous “missing person” stories just never made it to the national news.

    Report Post »  
  • Professional Infidel
    Posted on May 14, 2011 at 7:42pm

    and I am just getting back from my vacation from my vacation, just like he should have done. it’s as tough, but I at that point was sober.

    Report Post »  
  • ChiefGeorge
    Posted on May 14, 2011 at 7:41pm

    I thought it was the husband of the women who he got lost with. Poor guy! I wish his family well. Atleast they did find him. Lets hope we find the other man.

    Report Post » ChiefGeorge  
  • Creestof
    Posted on May 14, 2011 at 7:34pm

    Sounds like a bad “prepper”…there is going to be more to this. 5K in cash? Sit in your car and make a calendar denoting each day he was on “Horn Road”? Why not just write SSDD?

    Report Post »  
  • SlimnRanger
    Posted on May 14, 2011 at 7:33pm

    It pays to always be prepared espically in winter, blankets, extra water, compass, matches, non perishable food, cell phone if you have one,and tell someone where you are headed

    Report Post »  
  • SlimnRanger
    Posted on May 14, 2011 at 7:30pm

    No this is a different person,it‘s sad he wasn’t reported missing, maybe he had no one to care

    Report Post »  
    • chips1
      Posted on May 15, 2011 at 7:46pm

      That‘s how bad it’s gotten. When I was a kid, all of the parents knew the neighbors kids names, ages and the phone numbers. In todays world, knowing your neighbors name is an invasion of privacy. Growing up in the 50′s with rock and roll was the greatest. My parents grew up with Al Jolson. Every generation has it’s era. I still listen to Jolson. I feel sorry for the kids of today. Government tells them what to think and do. They have no freedom. Liberalism brought freaks into what used to be a normal world. Morals are gone.

      Report Post »  
  • Sam Brown
    Posted on May 14, 2011 at 7:29pm

    Guess his own son hadn’t talked to him in 30 years. Yep a life worth living.

    Sam

    Report Post »  
  • True2The_Word
    Posted on May 14, 2011 at 7:27pm

    Hey, “HAWT‘N’CULELESS other than beeing truely SICK-N-DISCUSTING, have you ever been in the woods? I could arrange a little trip say 20 miles east of Crater-Lake. I will give you a knife, 3 matches a coat and a 2 hour head start.

    For the rest of the world I think that it is all to clear that too many people are going into the wood VERY unprepared. The back-woods of the western states are truely wilderness and should be respected as such. Having grown-up there I can safely say that even well prepared people can get in trouble. The buddy system usually helps in surviving out there. A GPS and Satelite Phone help too.

    I’m just saying….

    Report Post » True2The_Word  
  • CARBON HOG
    Posted on May 14, 2011 at 7:23pm

    $5k in cash……money does burn.

    Report Post » CARBON HOG  
    • Black Manta
      Posted on May 14, 2011 at 7:45pm

      When the value of our dollar hit 0% people still won’t burn it to keep warm..Money is most humans god..

      Report Post » Black Manta  
  • Dianne SZ
    Posted on May 14, 2011 at 7:08pm

    That poor man!! How he must have suffered. Tells me to take my cell phone everywhere, it could save my life.

    Report Post »  
    • vennoye
      Posted on May 14, 2011 at 7:17pm

      AND have a car charger!!

      Report Post » vennoye  
    • staythecourse
      Posted on May 14, 2011 at 7:47pm

      and you better stay within range of a “cell tower”.

      Sorry folks, but a cell phone is not the solution. Being prepared is…and then even that is not enough. Can’t tell you how many folks going climbing into the highlands with their “cell” thinking that it’s okay not to be prepared because they can use their cell phone to call for help if they get into trouble. Sad that so many people believe it’s okay to just “call” because they were unprepared. (not saying this man was unprepared…to survive 60 days is no small feat) What folks don’t realize is that when you do go into the woods with the idea/plan of calling if you get into trouble actually puts many many other lives at risk …folks who volunteer as rescue teams to safe you. NO…. A cell phone with battery is not the option. Knowing and planning is what needs to be done. And accepting the risks.

      Report Post »  
    • Bob_R_OathKeeper
      Posted on May 14, 2011 at 9:09pm

      Get the CC Observer, it’s a small hand-crank style radio with the weather channel, no need for batteries, but takes them too. It also has an LED light in the side and comes with attachments to recharge your cell phone by cranking the arm of the radio. I’ve been preparing, I advise others to do the same.

      Report Post » Bob_R_OathKeeper  
    • ireport uderide
      Posted on May 15, 2011 at 8:19am

      DIANNE SZ:
      Your correct about having a cell phone with you at all times is case of an emergency but in this situation it wouldn’t have helped this poor man.
      I learned on one of the many survival shows on TV that you should have 3 smoky fires burning, that’s like an SOS for anyone searching for you or if observed from a distance.

      As for some of the previous sick posts from Blaze saboteurs, “W….in T…he F…uture”. Crawl back under your booze soaked, DNA stained blankets and let real adults comment the important issues of the day.

      Report Post » ireport uderide  
  • mensaman62
    Posted on May 14, 2011 at 7:07pm

    I choose to ignore the previous post…God Bless him and I pray for his family.

    Report Post » mensaman62  
  • Black Manta
    Posted on May 14, 2011 at 7:04pm

    This is what happens when you lack knowledge…

    Report Post » Black Manta  
    • Marengo Ohio Patriot
      Posted on May 14, 2011 at 7:24pm

      Hey Sicky, do the planet a favor and go eat a bunch of ‘poo bars’. Freak‘n A’hole!

      Report Post »  
    • silentwatcher
      Posted on May 14, 2011 at 7:34pm

      This is what happens when you think a four wheel drive vehicle is infallible. There is no substitute for common sense.

      Report Post »  
  • BurntHills
    Posted on May 14, 2011 at 7:04pm

    GET REAL!!! we read this over on Drudge, and it said the guy was only 68. wow. 68 is NOT “ELDERLY !!!

    Report Post » BurntHills  
  • Black Manta
    Posted on May 14, 2011 at 7:03pm

    May God bless his soul…

    Report Post » Black Manta  
    • Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
      Posted on May 14, 2011 at 7:49pm

      May he rest in peace.

      Report Post » Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}  
    • OLDBIKEFIXER
      Posted on May 15, 2011 at 7:32am

      The story says that he was found 4 miles from a town. He could’ve WALKED the 4 miles, don’tcha think? He had 2 months to do it… I could sit down and “butt-scoot” for 4 miles if I had 2 months! And he had $5000 in cash in his pocket?

      So here’s what really happened: He just sold the wheels from his ‘53 Vincent Black Shadow to the “American Picker” guys for $5000, when he got picked up, truck and all, by an alien space ship. They cruised the universe for a couple months, then they plopped him back down onto Earth in the same general area where they originally found him, not realizing that his vehicle registration had expired (there’s no D.O.T. on Alpha Centauri). Being as the guy didn’t want to get nailed with a moving violation, he figured it would be better to just sit there for the rest of his life.

      Mystery solved. Case closed.

      Report Post » OLDBIKEFIXER  
    • right-wing-waco
      Posted on May 15, 2011 at 11:19am

      Very sad story indeed. Had he set the spare tire on fire, the smoke might have gotten him rescued.

      Report Post »  
    • coryf076
      Posted on May 15, 2011 at 12:39pm

      True story….My buddy and I got lost in these mountains about 15 years ago. We had a car phone, I called the police after driving around for 4 – 5 hours and they wouldn’t help. She said if I didn’t know where I was, then how could they find me. She probably thought it was a prank but it was real and it was very scary. Fortunately for us, it was the beginning of hunting season and I found a guy that unlocks the gates to let hunters in. He was shocked to see us and was inquiring as to how we got in that area because all the gates were locked. Come to find out we had entered the forest almost 70 miles from where we found him and came out.

      Report Post »  
    • Secret Squirrel
      Posted on May 15, 2011 at 8:09pm

      .
      I think I would have started a fire.

      Report Post » Secret Squirrel  
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