47-year-old man vanishes while scuba diving in river on Oregon coast, deputies say
The search is on for an Oregon man who went missing while scuba diving in an Oregon river, according to a sheriff’s office.
A friend called 911 to report Jeffery Scott Harris, 47, of Eugene, missing on Sunday, Jan. 28, at about 3 p.m. when he didn’t return from his afternoon scuba diving session at the Umpqua River in Winchester Bay “near the mouth of the Pacific Ocean,” the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post.
Deputies said they searched the area on foot, while the United States Coast Guard searched the water for Harris, “who had previous diving experience,” via helicopter.
A USCG helicopter continued to search the area on Monday, according to deputies.
Deputies said a dive team tried to search the area Monday morning, but could not “due to dangerous diving conditions.”
“We are doing everything we can to assist them (Harris’s family) in locating (Jeffery),” Lt. Brad O’Dell said in the release, adding that deputies will continue to search by foot on Tuesday.
O’Dell said they are working with other agencies to see if “specialized underwater searching equipment” can be used to search for Harris.
Winchester Bay is about 85 miles southwest of Eugene.
This story was originally published January 30, 2024 at 12:40 PM with the headline "47-year-old man vanishes while scuba diving in river on Oregon coast, deputies say."
