Kim Smith, who was found dead on Sunday, had been reported missing by family members when he failed to return home from a fishing trip on Friday. [Photo provided by family]
A fisherman who was reported by his family on Friday was found dead on Sunday morning.
Upper Rogue area resident Cecil “Kim” Smith became the subject of a massive manhunt when he failed to return home from a fishing trip in the Prospect/Rogue River Gorge area.
Smith’s daughter, Tami Serrano-Smith, reported that her father’s body was found shortly before 10 a.m., with his dog, a black lab named Jessie, nearby. The dog was not injured.
Smith, who owns a local sand company and is a local youth coach, was last seen by family members at 3:15 a.m. on July 15. His truck was found later that day in the Mill Creek Falls parking lot.
Jackson County Sheriff’s officials, with the help of friends and family, searched for Smith and his dog Friday and Saturday.
Search efforts were suspended Saturday night and resumed Sunday morning, with search crews locating Smith early in the day.
According to Serrano-Smith, a local search party that included Haegan Carrol, Stephen Price and Brandon Carnes found Smith’s body. They heard Smith’s dog howling, which led them to the area, and found the body about 10 minutes later near the water below Mill Creek Falls, about a half mile from the area of car park.
The man appeared to have fallen off a cliff and the body had to be lifted by helicopter, Serrano-Smith said.
No cause of death was immediately available.
Serrano-Smith thanked search crews and community members for helping to find her father.
Contact reporter Buffy Pollock at 541-776-8784 or bpollock@rosebudmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @orwritergal.
