69 year old Harry Burleigh from Roseburg, Oregon, was first reported missing by his wife at 10:15pm Friday, May 7th, after he failed to return home Thursday, May 6th, from a fishing trip in the Toketee area.
On Saturday, May 8th, 2021, a Douglas County Sheriff Deputy located Burleigh’s vehicle at the Twin Lakes Trailhead. Searchers have been scouring the area for any signs of Burleigh for more than 10 days and had come up empty handed until last Sunday, May 16th, when searchers located a makeshift shelter and a tackle box belonging to Burleigh.
On Sunday, May 23, 2021, Douglas County Search and Rescue conducted another mission in the area of Calf Creek after Burleigh’s fishing gear was found last weekend. A total of 15 surrounding Search and Rescue resources were called in from Jackson County for Sunday’s search efforts.
At approximately 3:00pm, a team of searchers from Jackson County Search and Rescue located a shelter southwest of the original shelter found last weekend. The search crews called out to Mr. Burleigh who responded back, and after 17 nights in the wilderness, was found to be in stable condition, walking and complaining of minor pain.
A Brim Aviation helicopter was utilized to hoist Burleigh from his location and transport him to a waiting Lifeflight helicopter. Lifeflight later transported him to an out of area hospital for evaluation.
