The strange disappearance of Robert Winters near Sparks Lake in Oregon
Robert Winters, disappeared October 8, 1969, Sparks Lake, Oregon.
78 year old, Robert Winters, disappeared in October 1969 on a hunting trip with his family in an area around Sparks Lake in Oregon. The area is to the south of Broken Top mountain and north of Mt. Bachelor.
The party consisted of Robert and his sons Charles, George and Alvin and they had hunted in Oregon on an annual trip for over 20 years. They had decided to hunt in this particular area because snowfall at higher altitudes would have made it difficult to find animals.
Robert was last seen at around 11am on October 8th, 1969 when he left his family to start hunting, but failed to show up back at the camp as darkness fell that day. As it became dark, heavy snow started falling and around 1.5 feet (46 cm) fell in the 24 hours after he disappeared.
Spark’s lake, Oregon
The search for Robert Winters
The family contacted the Deschutes County Sheriff to report Robert's disappearance and around 60 people joined in the search and rescue efforts. A helicopter was deployed and tracks were spotted nearby at a place called Soda Creek at around 7,100 metres, higher than the 5,400 metres at which Sparks Lake is located. However, no sign of Winters or his equipment was found during the extensive search.
The discovery of Robert’s belongings
The following summer Dr. Jack Crosby, a doctor on a hiking holiday in the area, came across some items just near Soda Creek just below the tree line, near where the footsteps had been seen on the aerial search. Crosby reported his find to the Sheriff and a search was started of the locality.
After a 3 day, detailed investigation by the Sheriff's department the only things found in the vicinity were Robert's deer rifle placed against a tree, his clothes were found at the base of the tree as well as the glasses, one boot, and one glove.
No remains were found in the area and there was no blood on the clothes. In fact, it looked like the clothes had been carefully removed and not shredded by an animal as part of an attack.
Deputies Mel Newhouse and Norman Thrasher who did the investigation at the discovery described the scene as "very odd" as not one bone was ever recovered despite a detailed search.
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