Eric Campbell

Multiple agencies are searching an area up Patrick Creek Road for a 47-year-old Eureka man who was reported missing Wednesday evening.

Eric Campbell had set up camp about a mile up the road from U.S. 199 near where Patrick Creek meets Shelly Creek, Del Norte County Sheriff Garrett Scott said. He had brought his dogs and his cat and had camped there for a bit, but was nowhere to be found when his family went to the area in search of him, Scott said.

“They did find the dogs and the cat and the camp,” the sheriff said. “And everything seemed to be kind of OK. Now they’re up here with us searching.”

Campell’s camp doesn’t look like it has been disturbed, Scott said. Searchers did find his Toyota pickup truck with Montana plates with its hood up, the sheriff said.

“He does have seizures occasionally and so we want to make sure that he’s not down with a seizure some place,” Scott said. “There are not a lot of clues so far. We did find a few boot prints in the creek bed nearby the camp, but it’s could have been a passerby fishing.”

The sheriff said it’s also not clear if Campbell got a ride from someone and left the area, but he noted that it’s unlikely he would have left his animals behind.

According to the sheriff, Search and Rescue personnel from Jackson County, the U.S. Forest Service, the Pelican Bay CERT team has been helping Del Norte Search & Rescue comb the area for Campbell.

Dan Brattain, of Cal-Ore Life Flight, flew his helicopter over the area and the California Highway Patrol also brought a helicopter from Redding on Friday. Scott said a plane with infrared technology will fly over the area at night to try to find heat sources in the area.

According to Scott, the weather has been fairly mild with temperatures in the upper 70s and low 80s during the day. While it’s chilly at night, Scott said he’s not worried about someone being out in the cold.

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