This story was originally published on YachatsNews.com and is used with permission.
A handful of volunteers combed through forests and Lincoln County Sheriff’s deputies swept miles of the Siletz River on Monday as the search for 2½-year-old Dane Paulsen entered its 10th day.
The thicket of moss-covered trees bordering the river near his parents’ property was quiet, except for the occasional snap of a twig from under rubber boots.
A group of six volunteers pushed back tree limbs, waded through thick mud and climbed over logs as they scanned the forest floor. Many wore knee-length boots, hats and multiple layers as they walked, eyes on the ground and on each other. While the group worked through the land on the ground, Tom Lelack, a volunteer from Albany, piloted a drone above the tree line, just as he had done for the last several days in an effort to find Dane.
The 2½-year-old boy has been missing since March 1. His parents, Chamet Jackson and Aaron Paulsen, told deputies he was last seen playing in the front yard of their house bordered by the river and Highway 229.
In the days since the boy’s disappearance, the search effort has amassed skilled divers, expert searchers and trackers, law enforcement personnel and hundreds of volunteers. The search has been on both the ground and in the water, using drones and other special equipment.
While the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office continues the official search and focusing on the river, volunteers – although diminished in numbers since the first days — are also aiding the effort.
Tasha Marie, a volunteer from Lincoln City, has a two-year-old boy too.
“He’s the same weight and height as Dane and for the first few days of the search I couldn’t look at him without getting sad,” she said.
Marie has been out on the search for multiple days, often taking her kayak on the river.
Usually, the group of volunteers is assembled by 9 o’clock each morning, she said as she waited at the Ojalla Bridge boat ramp parking lot at 10 a.m. Monday. Dane’s family has been searching out with them too, she added.
“We just want this mama to get some closure and peace, not knowing is worse than anything,” Marie said.
Amber Chadwell, another volunteer from Lincoln City, helped search by boat on Saturday. On Monday she scrolled through photos on her phone of tree roots along the river.
“There’s so many trees and roots it’s daunting,” Chadwell said.
It was past 10 a.m. Monday before a solid volunteer group formed. Some broke off to search the river while others waited to conduct a ground search. Many were community members from Siletz and Lincoln City.
Before the search began, Lelack prompted volunteers to keep an eye out for articles of clothing or footprints that may belong to a child.
The search team found clues that led them to believe the wooded area close to the boy’s family home should be searched in addition to checking the water, Lelack said. He couldn’t provide further details of the clues, he said.
As they have since the beginning, the sheriff’s office had a boat in the river again Monday. The river was an area of focus based on a couple factors, Sheriff Adam Shanks said in a phone interview.
Last week tracking dogs picked up a scent and sign cutters found a footprint down by the river, Shanks said. They’ve covered a lot of ground and miles of water, but nothing was ruled out yet, he said.
A white van that was said to have been seen in the area is not currently linked to the investigation or the search, according to a sheriff’s news release late Monday. The sheriff’s office has repeatedly said they have no evidence of foul play in Dane’s disappearance.
Land in the search area has been thoroughly combed and although it is possible to miss a small child, efforts are concentrating on the Siletz River because of the coverage of the surrounding land and evidence provided by searchers with specialized training and equipment, according to the sheriff’s office.
A two-person team did an above water search Monday and there will be a boat on the water every day until further notice, Shanks said. If they still can’t find anything in the river, Shanks said, the investigators will follow up on leads and additional tips before calling off the search.
Even if that were to happen, there is no “off” to their efforts and there would be follow up to the case, he added.
“We want to exhaust every avenue, we want to do everything we can,” Shanks said.
The sheriff’s office said people with any information related to Paulsen’s disappearance should still call its tip line at 541-265-0669.
