By Sarah Brown
Lebanon Local
UPDATE: Linn County Sheriff reported on April 21 that William Tyrrell has been located and is home safe. The investigation revealed that Tyrrell wandered away from Marks Ridge Road and walked to Lebanon. From there, a good samaritan gave Tyrrell bus fare to the Eugene area where he then walked to Junction City. A second good samaritan gave him a ride to his family’s house in Cottage Grove. In partnership with Cottage Grove Police Department, Tyrrell was confirmed home and safe.
Rumors on social media through a person allegedly in touch with Tyrrell’s sister-in-law reported he was found in Cottage Grove and was being treated for hypothermia.
Multiple attempts to contact direct family members went unanswered. Nicole Jackson, Tyrrell’s cousin with whom he was staying in Sweet Home, indicated Tyrrell’s wife was mad at them for not doing something sooner and refused to talk to them further or update them on his whereabouts.
The Linn County Sheriff’s Department is seeking a Colorado man who was reported missing late last week after leaving the house in Sweet Home, where he had been staying, two days before.
William Tyrrell was visiting family in the 4100 block of Marks Ridge Road when he disappeared. His cousin, Eric Steadman, said Tyrrell and two other family members were heading to Eugene on Thursday, April 14, but Tyrrell opted to stay the night with Steadman and would get a ride to Eugene Friday.
Steadman last saw Tyrrell before he went to bed on Thursday night. Steadman’s sister, Nicole Jackson, also last saw him on Thursday night when Tyrrell was talking about wanting to go to the casino. When they woke up, Tyrrell could not be found, but they were told by an unidentified witness that he was seen walking Friday morning on Mark’s Ridge Road near a gravel pit two miles from the house.
Several people searched for Tyrrell, but they expected he’d be back soon enough, maybe in a day, Jackson said.
“He has a history of just up and splitting and going into the woods,” Steadman said. “The longest he’s been out there is like 30 hours and he came back. But it’s been several days now, so I’m starting to fear the worst, and there’s some big cats on this mountain.”
According to the family, Tyrrell’s wife, Terri, contacted them on Saturday asking where her husband was. When she learned he was missing, she made calls to local authorities for help. The Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday, April 20, in a news release, that deputies immediately responded by talking to people and searching the area Sunday.
Officers put out an all-points bulletin for Tyrrell and drove up the gravel road he was purportedly seen on, but refused to do a search and rescue, Steadman said.
“They told me they weren’t gonna do nothing about it because they didn’t have nothing to really go on, and it had been two days or so,” he said. “They said it’s been too long.”
When posts were blasted on social media about the missing man, the community offered to bring in their own dogs and drones, and do their own search. But the Sheriff’s Office continued search efforts on Tuesday and Wednesday with people searching on foot, in vehicles, with a K9 and the use of drones.
“I’m really scared for him and really would like to know what happened,” Steadman said.
Tyrrell has a mustache and goatee, and was last seen wearing jeans, a blue hoodie, camouflage jacket and green baseball hat. It is believed his phone has been off since Saturday, and he left his belongings in the car headed to Eugene. Terri arrived in Oregon on the 20th to help locate her husband.
Deputies would like to speak with the witness who saw the male walking on Marks Ridge Road on Friday. Anyone with information is encouraged to contact Det. Scott Tennant at the Linn County Sheriff’s Office (541) 967-3950.