Eric Campbell

A dual purpose rescue dog from San Francisco joined roughly 25 people who have been searching the Patrick Creek area for 47-year-old Eric Campbell who was reported missing on Wednesday.

In addition to the rescue dog, a California Highway Patrol helicopter flew over the area this weekend, but was unable to detect any heat signatures, Del Norte County Sheriff Garrett Scott told the Wild Rivers Outpost on Monday.

Del Norte Search & Rescue joined searchers from Curry County who have flown drones over the area, which is about three-quarters of a mile up Patrick Creek Road from U.S. 199, Scott said.

A team also hiked into the Diamond Creek drainage area, which is a place Campbell has been known to frequent, Scott.

The sheriff said they’ll continue to fly drones over the search area and will talk with people who had been camping to see if they know anything about Campbell.

“I was told by the investigator on scene that the family did collect his belongings and vehicle from the area, and there was still some family in the area as of yesterday,” Scott said. “I would say we’ve had roughly 25 searchers daily.”

A family member also took Campbell’s dogs and his cat on Thursday, the sheriff said.

Scott said the terrain along the creek is brushy and rocky. Though he hadn’t seen any bears, there is a lot of “bear sign” on the west side of the creek, he said.

“He did tell the family prior to his disappearance that there was a bear with cubs that he encountered and he had used rocks to run them off,” Scott said. “There’s quite a bit of bear sign on the west side of the creek in the same area — bear scat, I guess you would call it.”

According to Facebook post from Campbell’s cousin Lisa Bowen, Campbell’s last communication with family was on Sept. 16. Bowen said Campbell has a seizure disorder, which can make him disoriented.

Agencies who have joined in the search for Campbell include Curry County, Jackson County and Josephine County search and rescue, Pelican Bay State Prison’s correctional emergency response tea, or CERT. Cal-Ore Life Flight’s Dan Brattain and the CHP have flown helicopters as part of the search effort.

SHARE →