Overview
- Gabriel Vaughn was last seen Monday near Greenwall Rapids during a rafting trip before setting off to hike toward the Chetco drainage.
- A multi-day search involved Josephine County Search and Rescue and a Coast Guard MH-65 Dolphin crew after a state request for assistance.
- A private party assisting search teams found him about two miles downstream and reported hand and foot injuries that made a foot evacuation unsafe.
- The helicopter lowered a rescue swimmer and hoisted Vaughn to safety before flying him to Bay Area Hospital in Coos Bay for extensive evaluation and treatment.
- His mother says he is stable, and his parents traveled from Tennessee and launched a GoFundMe to support medical and recovery costs.