Missing Man Found 10 Miles from Camp North of Mt. Emily
By Joe Hathaway on Wednesday, June 28th, 2023 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
UNION COUNTY – (Release from Union Co. Search and Rescue) At approximately 9 PM on Monday, June 26th, Union County 911 received a report of a missing 24 year old male approximately 4 miles north of Ruckel Junction in Union County. The missing individual was last seen walking near their camp at about 3 PM that afternoon. After 911 dispatchers took the report and a SAR coordinator gathered additional information via phone, SAR was activated and responded with four teams equipped with ATVs, a UTV, and mobile command trailer. Shortly after 11 PM, a SAR team located the missing individual walking on a road approximately 10 miles from the point last seen. He told searchers that he had gotten lost and had decided to follow roads leading out of the woods that ultimately led him to the roadway where he was located.
While this mission was fortunately resolved quickly and without incident, we’d like to remind everyone of two things we strongly recommend to do immediately if you realize you’re lost. First stop, and then if you can, call 911. Not all areas have phone service, but if you can get service and call 911 it allows dispatchers to quickly get an accurate location of the caller in most instances. This is something that cannot be done if calls are made to other numbers first and the phone battery subsequently dies.
As always, thank you to our 911 dispatchers, Union County Sheriff’s Office deputies, our skilled volunteers, and our supporters in the community, all of which in combination form a team that helps us resolve missions like this quickly and with a positive outcome.
