An Albany man was found when divers found her body in Green Peter Reservoir on Monday, Oct. 5.
On Sunday, Oct. 4, at approximately 2:23 p.m., the Linn County Sheriff’s Office 911 Center received a report of a missing person on Quartzville Road along Green Peter Reservoir near Foster.
Micah Carpenter, 20, of Albany, told friends he was going camping for the weekend outside of Sweet Home. He was last heard from on Saturday, Oct. 3, at about 2 p.m., when he said he was going to get in the water and swim to the other side of the lake.
When the first deputy arrived at the scene to look for Carpenter, they contacted the caller and two other friends of Carpenter. His vehicle was parked on the shoulder of the road above the lake, and his personal belongings were found on the shore near the water line, with footprints leading into the water. The spot is about 100 feet down a steep embankment from the roadway, and the lake is about 50 to 70 feet wide at that point.
The Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue and Dive Teams were activated.
Green Peter Reservoir is well below its high-water mark this time of year, which makes access to the water very limited. Linn County Road Department crews cleared debris from seasonal boat ramps so a rescue boat could get on the water. Although the ramps were made accessible, it was still a difficult task to get a boat to the waterline, which was far past the end of the boat ramps.
Search teams continued to search the shoreline while deputies tried to maneuver the boat and dive gear to the water’s edge.
On Monday, Oct. 5, divers were able to gain access to the water and began searching the areas as additional crews continued to find a way to get boats on the water. Divers located Carpenter submerged in the water. Teams worked through the evening to launch a boat and recover Micah.
The Sheriff’s Office was assisted in this incident by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Linn County Road Department, and the Benton County Sheriff’s Office