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Searching for the evidence
Jackson County deputy Rich Rullamas, left, leads a group of volunteers, including Rogue Valley Search and Rescue unit leader Cindy Mohar, center, to the area near Butte Falls where an apparent hunting accident left one man dead. Searchers hunted the area for evidence on Tuesday. Search and rescue volunteers look for more than bodies, as Tuesday's hunt for a rifle shows By JILL BRISKEY BUTTE FALLS - Trampling through tall grasses and deadfall, 12 volunteers scoured a hillside off Fredenburg Road on Tuesday in search of something more than a missing man or dead body. The searchers were looking for a rifle, allegedly cast into the shrubbery after Medford resident Ryan Wilson, 40, reportedly shot and killed his hunting partner Sunday by mistake. Don Hauser, a 34-year-old White City man, was apparently shot once in the back.
Wilson may be charged with criminally negligent homicide, a decision that will be announced next week. Three hours after the search for the gun began, members of the Jackson County Sheriff Search and Rescue team found the weapon. Further details about the make or model of the rifle weren't being released Tuesday. Evidence searches - such as Tuesday's hunt for the rifle - are a routine responsibility for the local search and rescue team. Although searches for the missing or deceased are common, Jackson County Sgt. Ken Curtis said the county's search and rescue team also participates in community events and regularly hunts for missing evidence on land or in water. "They do everything that's necessary," he said. It's a tough job that demands hours of training each month, Curtis said. Volunteers face physical challenges, dirt and long hours, he added. "Being a member of search and rescue is not just the prestige of being a member of search and rescue," Curtis said. "There's a lot of hard work involved." Despite that hard work, volunteer Cindy Mohar said it's a task she loves. Mohar is the unit leader for the Rogue Valley Search and Rescue unit, part of Jackson County Sheriff Search and Rescue. "I think that community service is important," Mohar said. "If somebody doesn't do it, it doesn't get done." Gar Abbas, a biologist at Southern Oregon University, has been working with the county's search and rescue team since 1998. "It's just a great way to get out and see the woods while helping out the community," Abbas said. Curtis said Jackson County's search and rescue team is comprised of several volunteer units that fall under the umbrella of the sheriff's department. The largest volunteer teams are the 70-member Rogue Valley Search and Rescue Unit and the 40-member Prospect Unit. Both groups have nonprofit status, Curtis said. Other search and rescue volunteer groups within the Sheriff's Department include the 10-member Emergency Service Aquatic Team and 12-member K-9 Unit. The two smaller groups function within the Rogue Valley Search and Rescue Unit as well, Curtis added. Today, the Jackson County Board of Commissioners is expected to approve an annual agreement with the Rogue Valley Search and Rescue Unit. The yearly agreement allows the volunteer organization to keep its nonprofit status while functioning within the Sheriff's Department. Nonprofits are eligible for grants and donations not otherwise available. Eight deputies within the sheriff's department are trained search and rescue officers. Reach reporter Jill Briskey at 776-4485, or e-mail jbriskey@mailtribune.com |
