This weekend, on the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, volunteers will search for 71-year-old Wesley Dixon Jones, a CTUIR tribal elder who’s been missing since October 5.
The search team that’s been gathered is testing a high-tech device that the coordinator says could be a “game changer.”
Kimberly Lining of MMIW Search & Hope Alliance out of Portland says the hand-held AquaEye Pro uses both artificial intelligence and sonar to bounce echoes off underwater objects, which then compares them to the “echoes” of a human body.
“It scans one acre of water up to 180 feet about every 30 minutes,” said Lining. “And that is what we are going to take down on the deep pockets of the Umatilla on our search. If Mr. Jones is in the water, this will find him.”
AquaEye was founded by Carlyn Loncaric, who worked and paid her way through engineering school as a lifeguard. She developed an interest in emerging technologies as a way to improve detection and response times in underwater searches. A spokesman for AquaEye says to date, the company’s devices have helped recover people in 135 cases.
Jones' daughter, Mollyanne, is hopeful the device will deliver.
“And also utilizing canines and divers to help locate my father. Right now, this is very, very important…utilizing that resource.”
Lining says her group is using the AquaEye on a trial basis. She hopes perhaps donors will cover the $29,000 cost of one they can use permanently.
The Umatilla Tribal Police Dept. says at 3:15 p.m., Oct. 5, a camera took footage of Wesley Dixon Jones riding in the passenger seat of a 2003 gray Ford Escape. The vehicle was headed east on Short Mile Road near Mission. When the vehicle returned two and a half hours later headed west, Jones wasn’t in the truck anymore. His family reported him missing that day to the UTPD at 10:44 p.m.
Jones is described as weighing 140 pounds and standing at 5 feet 8 inches tall. He has long black hair and brown eyes, and was wearing a black and red Tigerscott jacket, black shirt, black sweatpants, and tan boots. A relative said he also had a Shakespeare fishing rod with him when he left home.
UTPD Detective William Morris said the search area for Jones is at least 10 square miles, and there have been several searches coordinated by law enforcement or the Jones family on foot, horseback, and kayak. Dogs and drones have also been used in the search efforts.
The UTPD is also asking anyone with relevant video footage to share it with investigators.
Morris encourages anyone with information about Jones' disappearance to contact the UTPD at (541)278-0550 or him directly at (541)969-7139.
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