Lost Hiker Found in Curry Co., July 21

News release Curry Co. Sheriff’s Office.  On 07-18-17 at about 9:30pm, the Curry County Sheriff’s Office received a call from Gold Beach resident Bo Shindler reporting that 40 year old Amy Nuttbrock of Albany California was missing.  Shindler stated he had dropped of Nuttbrock at Game Lake at about 11:30am and that she was supposed to hike from there down to the mouth of Lawson Creek on the Illinois River just above Oak Flat in Agness, Or.  Shindler said Nuttbrock was not familiar with the area, did not believe she had the proper gear and was going on information provided by the US Forest Service about the Game Lake Trail.  When darkness fell and Nuttbrock did not show up, Shindler called the Sheriff’s Office.  Due to the darkness and rugged area, a plan to search was formulated by the Curry County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Team for the following morning. On 07-19-17, Curry County Search and Rescue members searched several trails in the area while Cal Ore Life Flight owner Dan Brattian and passenger Sheriff John Ward flew over the area for several hours in a helicopter.   John Rachor and Mark White were also in the air in a fixed wing airplane searching the area.  By late evening searchers had not located Nuttbrock but did find foot prints and a cold fire ring indicating that Nuttbrock was possibly in that area.   A call was placed for assistance from CORSAR (California Oregon Regional Search and Rescue) for the next operational period. On 07-20-17, SAR members from several counties including Josephine, Jackson, Klamath, Siskiyou and Del Norte counties arrived and responded to the area of Game Lake where the Curry County Command trailer was located.  Search crews started searching the areas where they had found possible clues to Nuttbrock being there while Dan Brattian and Sheriff John Ward searched by air. At about 9:45am, Dan Brattian and  Sheriff Ward spotted Nuttbrock from the air in small opening amongst dense timber alongside of a small creek called Horse Sigh Creek approximately one and three quarter miles west of the Illinois River.  It was then determined that the best way to get her out safely was to ask the US Coast Guard to assist with doing an air lift.  A call was placed to the US Coast Guard and they responded. At about 11:45pm, The US Coast Guard arrived in the area, lowered a rescue swimmer down and air lifted Nuttbrock out of the area and flew her over to the Agness airstrip.  From there Nuttbrock was then flown to the Gold Beach airport by Dan Brattian to be reunited with her father and Shindler.  Nuttbrook only suffered from hunger and many scratches on her legs from going through the brush. When asked about her ordeal, Nuttbrock stated that she was not prepared for the conditions and assumed there would be a well-marked and maintained trail.  This was not the case and she found herself in a life and death situation.  Nuttbrock thanked everyone for saving her life. We would like to thank all the Search and Rescue Members who responded from Curry County and all the other counties to help search for Amy Nuttbrock.  A special thanks to Dan Brattian for his time and the use of his helicopter.  Dan has always been willing to stop what he is doing and lend a hand.  Without Dan, we would probably still be searching.