Forty six year old Shane Feuerborn, was reported missing to the Brookings Police Department by his son Johnny Feuerborn, on December 8th, 2021, and that he had not been seen since the day before.
The Brookings Police Department started an investigation and entered Shane Feuerborn into the National Data Base as a missing person. Shane Feuerborn’s vehicle was also missing, and information was passed onto all Law enforcement and public to be on the look out for Feuerborn and his vehicle.
On December 12th, 2021, at about 1:44pm, the Curry County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call from a person who had been hiking the Windy Valley Trail near the Snow Camp Look out and found a black Mustang car parked at the trailhead that she believed belonged to Shane Feuerborn. One of the car windows was down and it was soaked inside. The caller reported that there was snow on the vehicle and on the ground with no footprints anywhere around it.
Members of the Curry County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Team responded to the area where the vehicle was located and did a hasty search around the vehicle and down the Windy Valley Trail. The Search and Rescue team were not able to locate any sign of Feuerborn due to the darkness and heavy snow fall.
On December 13th, 2021, The Search and Rescue team returned to the area with the Sno-Cat and continued the search in the daylight. The weather turned worse with the snowstorm and the teams were not able to find Feuerborn or any sign of where he could be. The heavy snow in the area had covered up everything on the ground. Search and Rescue teams had split up to cover more ground including all around the Snow Camp Lookout, but by the end of the day the search was called off until better weather and snow melt.
Up until mid-January 2022, our Forest Deputy and Search and Rescue Coordinator went to the area several times where Feuerborn’s vehicle was found to assess the conditions that would be favorable to continue a ground search.
On Saturday, January 15th, 2022, the Search and Rescue team returned to the area where there was still some snow but were able to search areas that were not covered by snow. That afternoon the Search and Rescue team located the body of Shane Feuerborn near the Snow Camp Look Out. It was apparent that Feuerborn had taken his own life for unknown reasons. The Search and Rescue team and Deputies transported Feuerborn back to the beginning of the trail head and down to meet Redwood Memorial.
The Curry County District Attorney authorized the release of Feuerborn and the next of kin have been notified. Condolences to the Feuerborn family.
