Cougar stalks search team looking for missing women
This is a press release courtesy of the Linn County Sheriff's Office
Linn County Sheriff Tim Mueller reports that two Eugene women were rescued yesterday morning after becoming lost and spending the night in the Mount Jefferson Wilderness area.
At approximately 9:05 pm on Tuesday, Larissa Unruh and Julie Charron, both age 19 and from Eugene, called a family member and told him they were lost in the area north of Three Fingered Jack.
The family member then called the Linn County Sheriff's Office to report the incident. Deputies and 22 members of the Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue Post responded to the area and attempted to locate the women based on a GPS coordinate transmitted by their cell phone's 911 call.
The searchers split into two groups and began searching the area, approximately 6 1/2 miles north of Highway 20. The cell phone's GPS coordinate proved to be inaccurate, delaying the response time to the women's actual location.
During the rescue operation, a deputy was forced to fire his weapon at a cougar that advanced on the searchers.
The search team blew whistles in an attempt to scare the cougar away, but the cougar continued its approach, getting within several feet of the search team before the deputy fired two shots into the ground in front of it.
The cougar disappeared and wasn’t seen after that.
Searchers found the women at 6:20 a.m. about a mile north of Three Fingered Jack at approximately 6,400 feet, cold and wet but in otherwise good condition.
They were not dressed or equipped to spend the night, and the search team provided hot food and dry clothes to the pair before bringing them out of the wilderness area. The searchers and victims reached the trailhead at approximately 10:30 a.m. where their parents were waiting.
The Camp Sherman Hasty Team also assisted by providing two members to the search effort.
Linn County Sheriff Tim Mueller reports that two Eugene women were rescued yesterday morning after becoming lost and spending the night in the Mount Jefferson Wilderness area.
At approximately 9:05 pm on Tuesday, Larissa Unruh and Julie Charron, both age 19 and from Eugene, called a family member and told him they were lost in the area north of Three Fingered Jack.
The family member then called the Linn County Sheriff's Office to report the incident. Deputies and 22 members of the Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue Post responded to the area and attempted to locate the women based on a GPS coordinate transmitted by their cell phone's 911 call.
The searchers split into two groups and began searching the area, approximately 6 1/2 miles north of Highway 20. The cell phone's GPS coordinate proved to be inaccurate, delaying the response time to the women's actual location.
During the rescue operation, a deputy was forced to fire his weapon at a cougar that advanced on the searchers.
The search team blew whistles in an attempt to scare the cougar away, but the cougar continued its approach, getting within several feet of the search team before the deputy fired two shots into the ground in front of it.
The cougar disappeared and wasn’t seen after that.
Searchers found the women at 6:20 a.m. about a mile north of Three Fingered Jack at approximately 6,400 feet, cold and wet but in otherwise good condition.
They were not dressed or equipped to spend the night, and the search team provided hot food and dry clothes to the pair before bringing them out of the wilderness area. The searchers and victims reached the trailhead at approximately 10:30 a.m. where their parents were waiting.
The Camp Sherman Hasty Team also assisted by providing two members to the search effort.
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