In the summer of 2014, 57-year-old Dwain Lee Hodge was enjoying a camping trip with his family in the scenic area of Trail, Oregon. On July 10th, at approximately noon, he informed his family that he was going for a walk from their campsite, situated near West Fork Trail Creek Road and Highway 227. He was wearing a white 'Budweiser' t-shirt, denim shorts, tan and black shoes with white socks, and a red 'Budweiser' hat.
With brown hair, blue eyes, and a mustache and beard, Dwain was a familiar sight to his loved ones. However, he did not return from his walk, and as the hours turned into days, concern grew for his welfare, especially considering he had previously suffered a stroke which resulted in some impairments.
The initial search for Dwain was complicated by a conflicting report of a later sighting. Three days after he walked away from the campsite, on July 13th, a resident in the 27000 block of Highway 62 near Trail reported a man matching Dwain's description rang their doorbell at 3:00 a.m. The man asked for a ride to Grants Pass. The resident asked him to wait a moment while they went back inside, but when they returned, the man was gone. This was the last reported sighting of Dwain Hodge. The Jackson County Sheriff's Office was notified of his disappearance on July 11, 2014, and began an investigation. Surveillance photos from the Shady Cove Market, taken the day before he disappeared, showed him in clothing similar to what he was last seen wearing.
The days and weeks following Dwain's disappearance were filled with uncertainty for his family and investigators. The fact that he had no access to a vehicle added to the mystery of how he could have vanished. The Jackson County Sheriff's Office continued their investigation, but no confirmed contact has been made with Dwain since that early morning encounter on July 13th. The circumstances surrounding his disappearance remain unclear, leaving his family with unanswered questions. The case of Dwain Lee Hodge is an ongoing missing person investigation, a quiet and troubling story of a man who went for a walk in the Oregon woods and was never seen again.Last Seen: Jul 13, 2014
