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Missing IFisher

46K views 54 replies 44 participants last post by  toomanydenny 
#1 · (Edited)
On August 5 Fred Carnahan (Fish on Fred) failed to show up for work. He had been fishing the North Umpqua around Swiftwater Park. Apparently he was assaulted while fishing and 8 days later his truck had not moved. There has been a search going on for the last couple of days and the body of a fisherman in waiders was pulled from the river today. Fred was a class act and very good fisherman. I do not know if foul play is suspected or not at this time. This is a terrible loss. Fred was a wonderful person and very active in keeping the rivers clean and beautiful for us to enjoy. He will be missed. My heart goes out to his family.
Mike Anderson P2F
 
#27 ·
Oh my gosh. I don't know what to say.
I'm so sorry. I am so thankful that you told us.
Please know that we are all praying and thinking about him, his family, and friends.
Jen
 
#35 ·
Since the assault appeared to have happened a couple weeks ago, we need to drop that part and just keep this to offering condolences to the family and friends because they ARE reading this. We cannot speculate unless we were there. Please think about what you post. The people left behind have to live with all of this. Be compassionate.
 
#42 ·
http://www.nrtoday.com/article/20080815/NEWS/362726664/0/FRONTPAGE

BREAKING NEWS: Body found in North Umpqua River

Adam Pearson
The News-Review

IDLEYLD PARK — Search and rescue crews recovered a dead body Friday evening from the North Umpqua River in front of the Narrows Wayside, a Douglas County park, where a group of swimmers had discovered it around 1:30 p.m.

At about 6:45 p.m., the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department’s Marine Patrol and the South County Swiftwater Rescue team retrieved the body, which appeared to be an adult male, from turbulent waters. The body, dressed in olive-green fishing waders and a beige shirt, had been wedged sideways in the river against a large rock, face down, with most of its back and left shoulder exposed. It was facing the south bank, away from Highway 138 East.

The recovery effort took longer than expected when the Sheriff’s Department learned that the Douglas County Fire District No. 2’s Swiftwater Rescue team would not provide assistance with retrieval of a deceased person and had to enlist South County Swiftwater Rescue, of the Tri City, Riddle, Canyonville and Myrtle Creek fire departments.

“They determined that since it was a deceased person they weren’t going to risk someone’s life,” Sheriff Jim Burge said at the park.

The body was located about 10 feet downstream of a pool in the middle of a stretch of river popular to fishermen known as The Narrows, just east of the Idleyld Trading Post store. Ripples of whitewater surrounded it and just 20 feet downstream was a massive chute of whitewater that dropped several feet in elevation and is considered to be either a Class IV or V rapid.

“We just came to jump and swim,” Jeff Juett, 27, said, referring to the pool upstream, “and my sister was taking pictures and was like, ‘Is that a body?’”

The Juetts — three brothers, one sister and one wife, all from Roseburg yet now living in different parts of the country — immediately phoned police.

Douglas County Sheriff’s Detective Scott Batsch treated the area as a crime scene.

The body was found near the area where search and rescue crews probed the river and its banks this week for Fred Wayne Carnahan, 45, of Cottage Grove, missing since Aug. 5. About a dozen family members and friends of Carnahan had joined the effort, which included a helicopter and a dive team between Swiftwater Park and Lone Rock Boat Launch.

The Cottage Grove Police Department listed Carnahan as a missing person Tuesday. His 1998 Toyota pickup was discovered Wednesday parked on the side of Highway 138 East, near Swiftwater Park, a fishing area Carnahan often frequented and about three-quarters of a mile upstream of The Narrows.

Carnahan had reported to his family that he was assaulted there July 29 by two reportedly drunk men, with a black eye to show for it. His family worried he would soon return to the area. Carnahan was on his way to Winston to work.

Botsch, who described Carnahan as 5-foot-eight-inches tall and about 150 pounds, said he checked into Carnahan’s history with the Cottage Grove Police Department and found no reason to believe the man would have enemies or foul play was involved with his disappearance.

“We can’t even substantiate that yet,” Botsch said. “This looks to me like it was purely an accident.”

Another group of swimmers on Friday found a fishing pole in a river pool downstream of The Narrows and reported it to police.

The story above is an update of the original story, which appears below.
 
#44 ·
It's sad, but...I don't know about the rest of you, but, other than the black eye a few weeks ago, Fred's news report reads like I hope my death report does some day. I have long told my family that when I die, I want it to be from being pulled in by a really big fish.:pray:
 
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