On Thursday, December 30th, 2021, The Curry County Sheriff’s Office was initially notified that sixty-five year old Jeffrey John Scherbarth of Agness, Oregon, was missing after his dog was found on the Agness Road, near Nail Keg Creek.
Curry County Search and Rescue responded to the area where the dog was found and searched the road for a couple miles in the dark and were unable to locate Scherbarth or his white 2004 Chevrolet pick-up with the words “I Bleed Orange” in the back window.
Curry County Search and Rescue returned to the area the following day, Friday, December 31st, and searched the entire Agness road from Lobster Creek to Agness, a distance of about twenty miles, by walking along the road and hiking over the embankments looking for any sign of Scherbarth or his vehicle.
On Friday, December 31st, sixty-five year old Jeffrey John Scherbarth of Agness, Oregon, was initially entered into the Police data base as a missing person. Scherbarth had reportedly last been seen about three days prior in the Gold Beach area.
Late in the evening on New Years Eve, December 31st, Scherbarth’s vehicle was found approximately a mile up on the overgrown road 220. Curry County Search and Rescue crews then returned in the dark along with a Sheriff’s K-9 and Detective.
Upon arrival to the location, crews observed that the driver’s door of the truck was open, and the bed of the truck was full of snow. There was an older dog still inside the vehicle that was extremely cold and hungry. Search and Rescue crews searched the area in the dark and were not able to locate Scherbarth.
Scherbarth’s dog, which was still in the vehicle, was fed and watered, and the truck and dog were taken out of the area. Search and Rescue crews, combined with members of Agness Fire and Rescue and Gold Beach Fire and Rescue crews, responded back to the area Saturday, January 1st, 2022, and continued searching the area, however, still unable to locate Scherbarth.
On Sunday, January 2nd, 2022, the Curry County Search and Rescue team returned to the area to continue the search. At approximately 1:45pm, Curry County Search and Rescue crews located the body of Jeffrey Scherbarth in heavy brush and timber in the area they had been searching since December 30th, 2021, and had been deceased for several days. Search and Rescue members had to use chainsaws to cut a path into the brush so he could be carried back out and released to Redwood Memorial.
