Following weeks of searching, the body of a missing Lebanon man has been located.
Donald Carroll, 88, was reported missing on Oct. 4 after he left his home early that morning and had not returned. Carroll, who had dementia, was last seen near Walmart in Lebanon, and a GPS tracker on his keychain last pinged at McKercher park near Crawfordsville that same day. The tracker later discontinued pinging.
Multiple searches were conducted by authorities, family and concerned citizens.
On Saturday, Oct. 18, at 12:37 p.m., the Linn County Sheriff’s Office received a call from an individual picking mushrooms in the area of Upper Calapooia Drive and Blue River Reservoir Road, approximately 30 miles east of Highway 228 in Linn County.
The caller informed Linn County dispatchers they found an unoccupied vehicle at this location, and provided its license plate number, which connected to Carroll’s missing car.
The LCSO’s Search and Rescue team arrived with specialized equipment to try to locate Carroll. Using a drone, he was found deceased in a steep, wooded, rocky canyon approximately 150-200 feet below the roadway where the vehicle was located.
At this time, there is no indication of foul play.
A graduate of Lebanon High School in 1955, Carroll was inducted into the Bud and Dorothy Page LHS Hall of Fame in 2022 for his lifetime achievements.
He served as a teacher, coach and administrator in the Scio School District before taking up a teaching and coaching position at Seven Oak Middle School, where he started a football program. Carroll later began coaching at the high school and also helped build a successful vocational program there.