A man missing from a raft trip on the Illinois River for four cold days and nights has been found alive. According to the Josephine County Sheriff’s Office, a private party coordinating with agencies in the search effort found Gabriel Vaughn, 25, approximately 2 miles downstream from where he was last seen.
Vaughn was suffering from hypothermia and cold injuries to his fingers and toes, as a winter storm had dropped snow in the area while he was missing. He was airlifted to a hospital in Coos Bay.
Vaughn left parts of his gear at different points along his route, which assisted in search efforts, though it’s not clear whether he did so intentionally.
Vaughn was separated from his rafting party on Monday, Feb. 16, when he walked up a drainage near the Green Wall rapid. His party searched for him, and found his paddle up the creek, but could not find him, according to Nicole Smedegaard, who was involved in the later search-and-rescue effort.
Smedegaard said her raft team launched on Wednesday, searched on foot all day Thursday, and headed downriver on Friday, with plans to leave at the end of that day due to projected high water. Coast Guard helicopter efforts were also planned to be called off at the end of Friday.
Luckily, that day, Vaughn was spotted by his brother, Jonathan, high on the bank above the river.
