Search for missing man 'scaled back'
DOUGLAS COUNTY, Ore. -- The following is a press release from the Douglas County Sheriff's Office:
On September 27, 2012, 74 year old Royce Cratty was reported missing by his wife. Cratty was dropped off by his son on Monday, September 24, in the morning, on a BLM road in the Marvin Hill area of Hwy 138W to go for a hike. Marvin Hill is located approximately 8 miles west of Sutherlin near Milepost 16.5.
Royce Cratty is described as a 5”8”, 145 lbs, with gray hair and green eyes. Mr. Cratty was last seen wearing two blue shirts, blue “rigging pants”, a red “cruiser hat”, was reported to be carrying a rifle and small daypack.
Cratty was last seen on Monday, September 24 at about noon by a Roseburg Forest Products employee. Cratty left no information as to his intended route home.
Sheriff’s Office personnel and Search and Rescue teams from Douglas and Lane County have been searching since Sept. 28, 2012 and no definitive sign of Cratty has been found. An aircraft from Douglas Forest Protective Association also assisted in the search. Search crews drove over 1000 miles checking the various routes Cratty had available to him. Overall the general search area covers an area of about 17 square miles.
At this time search operations have been scaled back pending any additional information.
If anyone has seen Cratty or has information to his whereabouts they should contact the Sheriff’s Office at 541-440-4471.
The FAMILY has NOT scaled back our search and we will continue to work until we find him. We are looking for someone with a helicopter who would be willing to fly over and search for us. The airplane that was used was a DFPA plane and was not equipped with heat-seeking capability. At this time, we have only 4-5 family members out searching. We will also be organizing a horseback search if he is not found by Thursday evening. The terrain is very rough and ground searchers need to be able to withstand some touch hiking. We will also be needing a ground crew for a base camp. We cannot use vehicles because of the extreme fire danger. Please contact anniepistolero @ gmail.com if you are able to help!