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December 29/30, 2005
We were called down to Curry County to assist in a search
for a missing mushroom picker.
There we teamed up with Josephine County and the USFS
groundpounders.
We gave a good days search with several of our folks
returning for a second day of searching.
Pretty commendable considering the search was fifteen miles
East of Brookings with horrible terrain and equally horrendous weather.
A special mention goes to Bud Berliner who logged in all groundpounders -- not
just us -- on the computer. Bud displayed his computer skills on his own
on the second day. The Deputy on Scene and I commend him.
Unhappily the story doesn't have a happy ending. The
missing mushroom picker was found dead Saturday. The bright side of the
coin is that we provided a lot of comfort to the missing man's extended
Laotian family. Every time someone in an orange vest walked by them,
their eyes lit up in thank you's. The article from the Coos
Bay World follows.
Missing mushroom picker is found dead
Tuesday, January 3, 2006 3:12 PM PST
A mushroom picker from Yreka, Calif., was found dead Saturday after being missing for four days.
According to a Curry County Sheriff's Office press release,
at about 2 p.m. 48-year-old Somboon Thongsavat was found approximately a third
of a mile from the location near Snaketooth Butte, 18 miles east of Brookings
on the south side of the Chetco River, where he went missing while picking
mushrooms with family and friends on Dec. 27.
He was separated from the group at approximately noon and
was reported missing at 10 p.m.
Despite inclement weather and harsh terrain, personnel from
the Curry County, Coos County and Josephine County Search and Rescue teams,
the U.S. Forest Service, the Curry County Sheriff's office and local
volunteers continued to search unsuccessfully over the next several days.
His body was recovered Saturday afternoon.
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