Camp Sherman team recovers boy's body

Camp Sherman Hasty Team members were called into action in the Crooked River Gorge on Saturday, September 28, to recover the body of a 16-year-old boy who apparently jumped 400 feet from the train trestle to his death on Friday.

Mark Foster, of Camp Sherman, coordinated the mission at the Ogden Wayside.

Teams from Jefferson County Search and Rescue out of Madras and Deschutes County Search and Rescue assisted.

Camp Sherman Hasty Team members Dan Tucker and Todd Williver, joined by Terry Halladay of Madras, rappelled into the north side of the deep canyon just west of the railroad trestle to secure recovery of the deceased.

Tucker is a paramedic at Black Butte Ranch. Williver is a Sisters police reserve and an owner of Mt. Supply of Sisters.

Across the gorge, Deschutes County Search and Rescue kept an eye on the descent route with its undercut banks and unstable rock, communicating with Tucker via portable radio to aid him in picking his way into the canyon as he rappelled with litter in hand.

Ben Benhower assisted the rappelling team as other Camp Sherman and Madras members tended to the main and belay line.

The main 600-foot line, affixed to the litter in the bottom of the gorge, was then transferred to the top from the north to the south by way of the train trestle. The Deschutes County team, lead by Terry Silbaugh, was in charge of the assembly and safety of the equipment for the ascent.

While the temperature soared to the high 90s in the canyon, the three rescuers remained below for hours and assisted to the navigation of the litter across the river and up the south canyon wall with a second rope.

Upon completion of the recovery at 3 p.m., coordinator Mark Foster expressed sorrow that "the circumstances leading to this rescue were so tragic," but was thankful for the "smoothness of the operation and cooperation of the three search and rescue teams as they intensely worked together in dangerous conditions for nearly five hours."