Family Lost in Oregon Forest for 6 Days Found Alive
- Posted on February 5, 2012 at 2:59pm by
Christopher Santarelli
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(AP) — Three mushroom pickers took refuge in a hollowed out tree after getting lost in an Oregon forest, fighting wintry chills for six days and drinking water from streams until a helicopter pilot spotted them.
Belinda and Daniel Conne, along with their 25-year-old son, Michael, managed to reach a clearing Saturday, where the searchers saw them several miles outside the community of Gold Beach, roughly 330 miles south-southwest of Portland.
“It’s a miracle, really,” Curry County Sheriff John Bishop said.
Until their rescue, the cold and hungry family had been unable to signal search helicopters flying low and slow overhead.
The three were airlifted to a Gold Beach hospital, where Bishop spoke with them at an emergency room. He said the Connes told him they could see search helicopters just a few hundred feet above them while they were lost but had nothing to signal them with through the thick, coastal forest vegetation.
Bishop said Daniel Conne suffered a back injury, Belinda Conne had hypothermia, and their son had a sprained foot and minor frostbite. All three also were dehydrated and hungry.
“They just got turned around,” Bishop said. “They sought some shelter in a hollowed-out tree and basically they stayed in the same place. But it was heavy vegetation where they were.”
Bishop said the three were “remarkably in pretty good shape,” given the amount of time they spent outside. He said they likely could have survived for two or three more days in the area, where fresh water is plentiful but food is scarce. The weather was mostly clear, with temperatures in the 40s and 50s.
Bishop said the family was spotted by Jackson County Commissioner John Rachor, who was searching for them in his own helicopter with Curry County Sheriff’s Lt. John Ward.
Rachor told the Mail Tribune newspaper that he had a hunch to go outside the box to find them. He knew from experience the lost people often get disoriented and go where they are not expected.
Raschor is the same pilot who found a San Francisco family lost in a snowstorm in 2006 just 35 miles from where he found the Connes. In 2006, Raschor flew Kati Kim and her two young daughters to safety after spotting them near their car. James Kim died of hypothermia trying to hike out for help.
Rachor said they had been searching for two hours when he decided to go outside the search area. They saw a flash of movement in a 210-foot ravine and found the Connes.
“I don’t want to take credit for it, because there were so many people involved,” Rachor said. “It’s all been a joint operation, I wasn’t out there alone.”
When dawn broke Saturday, Bishop said searchers entered the woods without much hope.
“We were sort of getting ready to go into body-recovery mode,” he said.
The ordeal began last Sunday when the three went out looking for hedgehog mushrooms, an orange-topped fungus prized by mushroom hunters for its sweet and nutty flavor. The three had been living in a trailer at a campsite after leaving Oklahoma for Oregon last summer.
Dusk fell during the family’s hunt. They started to return to their Jeep but couldn’t agree on directions.
“Pretty quickly, they found they were lost,” Bishop said.
The family found a forest road next to a river bank and huddled together with their dog, a pit bull-terrier mix.
Search parties were dispatched Tuesday, when their campsite manager realized the Connes hadn’t returned. The Jeep was found on a logging road Wednesday, along with two small dogs and the family’s jackets.
Searchers found a trail and a few hopeful clues along the way: a can of Pepsi, mushroom-picking buckets, a few pieces of clothing.
Bishop said Daniel Conne told him he had a sinking feeling every day the family wasn’t found. Daniel Conne would watch the search helicopter pass but was unable to get their attention.
“They said, `You were right above us,’” Bishop said.
When the family was finally found Saturday, they were only 200 yards from the nearest group of searchers.
The search had focused on a 4-square-mile area. Bishop said the family was in the search area but likely kept moving, making the search for them more difficult.
“We were actually right near them all three days” of the search, Bishop said. In the area’s canyons, “you think people can hear you, but they can’t.”
The search involved three Southern Oregon counties and one California county.
After being spotted by Raschor and Ward, the Connes were transported by a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter to Curry General Hospital in Gold Beach. A nursing supervisor said Saturday afternoon the three were in a doctor’s care and were unavailable for comment.
At the emergency room, Bishop said the Connes were “very thankful for the rescue” and were able to eat solid food.
People frequently get lost or stranded in the area where the Connes went missing – rugged country in the Klamath Mountains riddled with a maze of logging roads.
Joe Dykes, who works at the Huntley Park campsite where the family was staying, said Belinda and Daniel Conne arrived at the campsite in July after moving there from Oklahoma. Their son arrived later.
Belinda Conne works as a housekeeper at the Jot’s Resort, where motel owner Virginia McKinney said the Connes were preparing to rent a home in Gold Beach before the disappearance.
McKinney said Belinda told her she always wanted to live on the Oregon coast, and finally left Oklahoma last year with the intention of settling down.
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mohavegreen
Posted on February 6, 2012 at 11:14amConsume little early, getting lost near Gold Beach would take effort.
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on February 6, 2012 at 10:12amIf they found the right mushrooms, I‘m sure it wasn’t too unpleasant for them.
Report Post »2conservative
Posted on February 6, 2012 at 9:27amNew candidates for the ‘Darwin Awards’…..
Report Post »RedDawn2012
Posted on February 6, 2012 at 6:52amAnyone who ventures into the wilderness without a tiny rescue kit (compass, whistle, mirror) is just asking for trouble. The mirror is for signalling rescue aircraft … a small, round “compact” with mirror works fine and costs $1 in any dollar store. A “signalling” mirror with built-in sight costs about $10. If the sun is shining and an air search is on, a mirror can save you.
Report Post »hoopsgulch
Posted on February 6, 2012 at 7:44amWhy do people enter the wilderness without so much as a lighter or a book of matches?
Report Post »OKC08GT500
Posted on February 6, 2012 at 9:11pmI would not venture into the backwoods without satellite phone, GPS, topo maps and a compass.
Report Post »80mesh
Posted on February 6, 2012 at 6:33amthe ocean is west death awaits north south and east ……. yup a compass woulda worked just fine
Report Post »i live in this neck of the woods take a look a a topo map of the area its way too easy for someone to get turned around in the Rogue river drainage …besides there are sasquatches up there
Kwills11
Posted on February 7, 2012 at 11:26amThey had a compass. Every tree around them. In western oregon moss grows mostly on the north side of a tree particularly if it is exposed on one side. I noticed this is true in Cairns Australia too only opposite, the moss i on the south side in the southern hemisphere. Of course this okie did not know this or he didn’t take his bearings at his car and as he walked. A signaling mirror in the winter in oregon? Useless. A whistle on his key chain would have worked. A $1 bic lighter? Priceless.
Report Post »right-wing-waco
Posted on February 6, 2012 at 6:17amI am glad they are ok, but, there is no excuse for being lost in todays backcountry. A handheld GPS would have saved them and the rescuers a lot of time. I carry a set of radios with GPS built in, extra batteries and a green laser for signaling.
Report Post »4xeverything
Posted on February 6, 2012 at 6:45amHow about something even cheaper, like fluorescent ribbons. Hunters use them all of the time . You just tie them around small trees and limbs on your way in, and collect them as you follow them on the way out.
Report Post »4xeverything
Posted on February 6, 2012 at 6:47amHere’s another one, do as every parent tells their child…if you get lost, STAY WHERE YOU ARE!!!
Report Post »cyclops
Posted on February 5, 2012 at 7:54pmThe guy looks like a hockey player……………..LOL……..I’m glad they were located and rescued……Better slow down on them mushroom………..LOL!!!
Report Post »BobtheMoron
Posted on February 5, 2012 at 6:38pmThese people were damned lucky. My Grandmother Byrd used to say,“Better lucky than smart”. They should have found water, an relatively open location, built a fire and stayed put. Likely they had no fire starting capability or any signaling equipment. Like I said, ‘damned lucky”. I have a two pound kit in my back pack everytime I go into the woods. It has just about anything you might need for a “I’m lost” emergency. Some food, emergency blanket, knife fire starters etc, I got it at http://www.survival123.net
Report Post »geonj
Posted on February 5, 2012 at 6:03pmyou go into the woods without a compass, matches(firestick), a knife, and other typical outdoor gear, you get what you deserve.
Report Post »booger71
Posted on February 5, 2012 at 7:47pmA compass without a map is not much good. A GPS is better.
Report Post »DennisNJ
Posted on February 6, 2012 at 7:25amA compass prevents a person from walking in circles. If one is to move they should go in one direction.
Report Post »Kwills11
Posted on February 7, 2012 at 11:32amBooger walk west until you hit the ocean or hw, gold beach is by the ocean. or follow a stream down hill. He was on the west slope of the cascades. Mushroom pickers in my experience aren’t doctors and lawyers and such.
Report Post »gemmeri
Posted on February 5, 2012 at 5:57pmNo Ranger Rick compass, no trail skills, no signal fire or flashlight or mirror… What the hell were these people doing in the woods to begin with? This is elementary school stuff. Something doesn’t smell right here with this story & it‘s not just because these people haven’t bathed in a while, either…
Report Post »its_time_to_kill_the_white_man
Posted on February 5, 2012 at 5:22pmExactly what KIND of mushrooms were they picking???
Report Post »burnteye86
Posted on February 6, 2012 at 5:04amhedgehog mushrooms, an orange-topped fungus prized by mushroom hunters for its sweet and nutty flavor.
Report Post »burnteye86
Posted on February 6, 2012 at 5:05amat least that’s what the article said.
Report Post »The Jewish Avenger
Posted on February 5, 2012 at 5:19pm6 days? They better be alive…
Report Post »grimli1331
Posted on February 5, 2012 at 5:14pmOur little town only makes the news when people try to get themselves dead in the woods…
Report Post »elvisroy0000
Posted on February 5, 2012 at 5:05pmwell all is well with them but not our Nation we are lost and will be if Newt Gingrich is not elected
Report Post »strong conservative Leadership Newt Gingrich Big Ears http://youtu.be/4beeD3Vr9ro
Garden in Corry http://youtu.be/6s0hjhkXW6Y
jakartaman
Posted on February 5, 2012 at 5:51pmNewty Fruity is a little ugly whining toad that just needs to go away!
Report Post »Bonnieblue2A
Posted on February 5, 2012 at 6:28pmNewt is a New World Order globalist who thinks as do the Tofflers’ whose book he endorsed, that the “US Constituion must die”. Newt/Romney have been chosen by the fourth estate and the powers that be who want the country to continue on the same path as it has for the past 20 years, a downward spiral.
Report Post »Jedrin
Posted on February 5, 2012 at 9:56pmNewt was put into the race just to make people happy Romney wins. Ross Perot was right, you have to vote your conscience. Why wast your vote on the better of two evils? You still get evil.
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