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Fifth day of search for missing 2-year-old boy covers 14 miles of the Siletz River without success

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Wednesday evening search update from the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office:

  • Divers and search boats covered 14 miles of the Siletz River downstream from the home of 2-year-old Dane Paulsen, who disappeared Saturday;
  • Ground teams also searched two miles along Highway 229 south of the home of Dane’s parents, Chamet Jackson and Aaron Paulsen;
  • The search, concentrating mostly on the Siletz River where Dane was believed to have last been, will resume Thursday;
  • “The search is active and ongoing,” said Jess Palma, public information officer for the sheriff’s office.

 

Lincoln County Sheriff's Office Scuba divers and boatsmen from search and rescue crews covered 14 miles of the Siletz River on Wednesday during the fifth day of the search for 2-year-old Dane Paulsen.

 

Lincoln County Sheriff's Office Two scuba divers look around tree snags in the Siletz River on Wednesday in their search for 2-year-old Dane Paulsen, who has been missing since Saturday.

 

 

Lincoln County Sheriff's Office Searchers in a jet boat and pontoon boats comb the Siletz River on Tuesday for 2-year-old Dane Paulsen, who evidence now indicates was last on a riverbank before disappearing Saturday.

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews

A 2½-year-old boy missing since Saturday from his parents’ property along the Siletz River appears to have last been at the water’s edge before he disappeared, the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office announced Tuesday.

So now the fifth day of a massive search for Dane Paulsen will focus Wednesday on the river and its banks downstream from the home of Chamet Jackson and Aaron Paulsen four miles north of the community of Siletz.

That move was evident this week when boats with 13 divers from Lincoln, Clackamas, Multnomah, Lane and Tillamook counties combed two miles of the river as professional and community-led volunteers searched more than 680 acres of land surrounding his parents’ property without finding a trace of him.

Sheriff’s officials held a Tuesday afternoon briefing on the Paulsen property to let the public know that searchers would now be focusing the bulk of their efforts on the water.

Dane Paulsen

“So far, the evidence available indicates Dane was at the river’s edge before his disappearance,” said Sgt. Jason Spano, one of the search commanders. “Because of this, we will be focusing the majority of our ongoing resources on searching the Siletz River.”

That effort, Spano said, will involve drones, boats and divers, search dogs and person trained “on tracking techniques that involves finding and following signs left behind by people or animals.”

While the professional ground search will scale back and community ground search is no longer being organized, Spano and Sheriff Adam Shanks gave little indication that the overall effort is close to being suspended.

“We understand the deep impact this situation has on his family and our community,” Shanks said. “We are committed to finding answers.”

The parents told deputies that Dane was last seen at 4:25 p.m. Saturday playing in the front yard of their house bordered by the river and Highway 229.

Dane has brown hair and green eyes and was wearing a gray, fuzzy hooded fleece coat with teddy bear ears, black pants and blue and white shoes when he disappeared. The Paulsens also have an 8-year-old daughter.

Shanks reinterated Tuesday that there continues to be no criminal link to Dane’s disappearance.

Lincoln County Sheriff's Office An aerial photo shows the Paulsen home and property along the Siletz River bordered by Highway 229 and Ojalla Bridge four miles north of the town of Siletz.

The Paulsen home is within 100 feet of the river. An earlier sheriff’s office news release called Dane “friendly and fearless, and is comfortable around strangers and water, but cannot swim.”

But with hundreds of seachers on foot and horseback, dog teams and drones with thermal imaging unable to find the boy on land, more attention is being paid to the river.

“The terrain in our overall search area includes surrounding property, forested rough terrain, the Siletz River and river banks,” Spano said. “Due to a thorough search and comprehension of these areas, search operations will now be focusing on a more concentrated area, highlighting the Siletz River.

The sheriff’s office repeatedly thanked the hundreds of community members, volunteers from Siletz and from all over Oregon and Washington who have descended on the Elks Toketee Illahee campground on the north side of the river to help search areas outside the main focus areas.

The sheriff’s office said it has chased down 195 tips but is still asking that  anyone who might have information on Dane’s disappearance call its tip line at 541-265-0669 or non-emergency dispatch at 541-265-0777.

“This investigation is still very active and remains a priority for our team and the community,” sheriff’s public information officer Jess Palma said in a statement. “We want to bring Dane home. Our community continues to ask for ways they can support Dane’s family. Right now, the family just wants their son back.”