By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-09-29 21:05:24 | Updated at 2024-09-30 05:25:10
8 hours ago
A grieving son has accused Oregon authorities of not 'giving a s***' after it took them nearly two months to find his mother lying dead in the wreckage of her car.
Kathleen Wilson was last seen alive on August 5 after setting off on a 230-mile trip to see a friend in Chiloquin and staying overnight at an RV park in Myrtle Creek.
As the days passed the Myrtle Creek Police Department said the 69-year-old widow had disappeared in the 'vast wilderness off of 138 East' (sic).
It was September 25 before she was found dead in her maroon 2012 Chevy Cruz near milepost 53, just six miles from where she was last seen.
'She was like 15ft off the road,' son Darreld Carey told DailyMail.com.
Kathleen Wilson, 69, disappeared on August 5 during a 230-mile road trip across Oregon
The grandmother was caught on camera at a gas station in one of the last sightings
The grandmother from McMinnville had left the RV park at 6am on August 5 to drive the last 140 miles to Chiloquin.
At 7.34am she was seen driving through the Dry Creek area on Highway 138 East, about six miles from where her car was eventually recovered.
The alarm was raised when she failed to appear at her destination that evening and Myrtle Creek PD began their search.
Within days the Douglas County Sheriff's Office, Oregon State Police, Forest Service Law Enforcement, and local firefighting crews were involved in an 'extensive search' for the missing woman.
On August 8 Oregon State Police brought in a plane to help in the search but that attempt was soon abandoned.
'Unfortunately, due to the smoke from the fires being thick and at a low altitude, they were unable to continue the search,' MCPD said later that day.
Carey said there was no reason for not resuming the air search when the air cleared.
'Maybe at the beginning but I honestly don't think they gave a s***,' he added.
'My niece is over there and she says there were clear blue skies. She was literally six miles from where she was last seen on camera.'
'At this point in the investigation, it has been determined that more likely than not, Wilson drove out the North Umpqua Highway from Roseburg and became lost somewhere in the vast wilderness off of 138 East,' Myrtle Creek PD posted on August 13.
'We would like to make sure we are clear; this case is not closed and the investigation is ongoing. This case will not be closed until Wilson is found.'
The widow from McMinnville was seen driving through the Dry Creek area on Highway 138 East, about six miles from where her car was eventually recovered
The Douglas County Sheriff's Office, Oregon State Police, Forest Service Law Enforcement, and local firefighting crews were involved in an 'extensive search' for her red Chevy
It was not until 9.27am on Wednesday that an Oregon Department of Transport staffer working on Highway 138 East near milepost 53 saw the remains of the car down a 'steep embankment'
Twenty-eight days after the grandmother disappeared hey wrote: 'We will be checking with the Oregon State Police this week for an update on the likelihood that a search by plane could be productive.'
It was not until 9.27am on Wednesday that an Oregon Department of Transport staffer working on Highway 138 East near milepost 53 saw the remains of the car down a 'steep embankment'.
'The vehicle was in a location that could not be seen by anyone driving by,' Myrtle PD insisted.
'Preliminary information from the scene indicate that Wilson was driving eastbound on Highway 138 East when her vehicle, for an unknown reason, traveled across the roadway and over a steep embankment on the opposite side of the highway.
'The Douglas County Medical Examiner's Office responded and took possession of the body.'
Carey said his brother David arrived at the scene and found that their mother had survived the crash and had undone her seatbelt in a bid to get out.
'The day she went missing I was going to go down and look for her and I was told there wasn't any need, they were going to take care of it,' he added.
'I truly believe if I had ignored them mother would still be alive today.'
