On Friday morning, August 16th, just before 3:00 am, the Curry County Sheriff’s Office received a call from Nicole Beaman who was camping in a teepee with her husband and children at “At Rivers Edge RV” on the South Bank of the Chetco River in Brookings. Beaman reported that her six year old autistic son had been missing for over an hour and that her husband was out looking for the boy. Apparently the child had slipped out after the family went to sleep and he was only wearing a tank top and shorts.
Three Curry County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to the area along with Night Security to begin searching the area of the park. A request was made to the Brookings Police Department for Officer Zane VanZelf and his K-9 Hulk.
Curry County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue were called to respond and once the Brookings Officer and his K-9 Hulk were on scene, Hulk tracked the child to a brushy area on the opposite side of the South Bank Chetco Road from the RV Park where the scent was lost. The Officer stated he believed he heard a child cry out from that area.
With the area identified, Search and Rescue members entered into the brushy wooded area and at about 5:44am, SAR members found the child and brought him back out where he was reunited with his father. Cal Ore Life Flight responded to make sure the child was okay.
