Man lost for 70 days, stuck in snow. Kept log up until he died. No one reported him missing.

Man found dead in truck after getting stuck in snow, spending nearly 70 days in remote Linn County

A 68-year-old man died in a sleeping bag in his truck after he got stuck in the snow while camping in February and kept a log of nearly 70 days spent apparently stranded in east Linn County's high country, authorities said today.

A U.S. Forest Service crew surveying roads discovered the body of Jerry William McDonald on Thursday in the back of his 1997 GMC pickup with a canopy. The truck was on Forest Service Road 517, about three miles from Oregon 22 and about four miles from Marion Forks.

McDonald's truck registration listed an address in Unity, but he had no permanent home, Linn County Sheriff Tim Mueller said in a news release. He was estranged from his family and hadn't been reported missing.

A homemade calendar in the truck indicates McDonald arrived in the remote mountain area on Feb. 7, probably to camp, sheriff's officials said. A later entry says: "Trapped, snowed in on 14th." His final entry came April 15 -- 68 days since the first entry -- and said only how long he'd been there.



http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2011/05/man_found_dead_in_truck_after_getting_stuck_in_snow_spending_nearly_70_days_in_remote_linn_county.html

I hope he didn't suffer much before he died.

Could the authorities have GPS'd him even if the batteries died?

There would also need to be service in the area. I gather that a lot of people head off into the woods with phones as safety devices, forgetting that coverage isn't universal. I did it to myself the other day, in a trivial way, driving up a pretty major highway intending to use the phone to set up a meeting, only to realize that my recollection of cell service in the area was quite erroneous...

Surely the snow would have melted a little by March, at least enough to start hiking out. Weird.

It does seem like there's more to the story, though...

Wonder where he was going.

:cry:

No matter how we many times we have called them, invited them, etc they choose to be alone - by themselves that is - not the 3 of them together.

Its a scary way to live considering their age and health concerns.

Not into technology either so no cell phones.

It's in Deschutes National Forest