8 Of The Strangest Unsolved Mysteries of Oregon

 

Walter Ackerson Jr.

 Walter was born in Washington's Kettle Falls. His parents divorced, and he moved in with his mother, Karen Hull. In the late 1980s, they settled in Puyallup, Washington. Walter was tormented at school, which he loathed. Although his test results were above average, he started consuming alcohol and was often absent from school.

He lived with his grandmother, Dolores Owens, in Tenino, Washington, and then with his ex-stepfather and younger brother in Spokane, Washington, but neither arrangement worked out. He returned to Puyallup and enrolled with his mother in family therapy.

Walter joined the federal Job Corps program in March 1990 and relocated 300 miles away to the Angell Job Corps center in Yachats, Oregon. Hull agreed because she believed it would benefit Walter; the students would be monitored, drinking would be forbidden, and Walter could get his GED and learn a skill. According to reports, he was ecstatic about joining the Job Corps and has chosen culinary arts as his field of interest. Hull signed paperwork granting him authority to take unaccompanied excursions off-site during his spare time.

Initially, Walter contacted his mother and grandma often. The last contact was received on March 20; Walter informed Owens, "This place is nothing like you imagine." His family never again heard from him.

Walter and three older Job Corps members, Troy Culver, Eric Forsgren, and Geoff Calligan, left the facility without authorization and hitchhiked to Nye Beach along Oregon Highway 101 in Newport, Oregon, which is 25 miles from Yachats, on March 24, barely two weeks after Walter joined the Job Corps.

The last time his friends saw him, he stood on a cliff overlooking the beach as they played football below. Afterward, he vanished without a trace. They returned to Angell Job Corps the next day without him.

Walter was written off as a fugitive by the Job Corps, despite allegations that he had been murdered. In contravention of its standards, they did not inform his mother of his abduction until April 5; they were required to notify parents of missing pupils within 24 hours.

On April 16, Walter was officially reported as missing. A Job Corps employee informed Hull that Walter had taken all his stuff with him, but Hull and Owens were handed Walter's items two days later at the Job Corps site in Angell. Only his collection of baseball cards was gone.

The Job Corps said they had left a message on Owens' answering machine and sent a letter to Hull informing her of Walter's abduction before calling her on March 29 to speak with her. Owens did not even have an answering machine, and Hull never got a letter, nor does she recall being phoned on March 29.

When Walter's mother and grandmother questioned the Job Corps about their fraudulent remarks, the employees conceded that they may not have informed them. Culver, Forsgren, and Calligan were authorized to be seen by Hull and Owens. An employee of Job Corps retold their tale in their presence, and they corroborated it. Culver apologized to Hull for Walter's absence, explaining that he was "responsible" for Walter and sorry that he had fled.

Emma Beller, who was said to have been Walter's girlfriend in 1990, reported to Hull that Culver and Forsgren had gotten into a fight with Walter and thrown him from a bridge. Hull reported Beller's allegation to the police, but they never followed up on it, saying Walter's corpse would have washed up had the story been true.

Hull returned to the Angell facility on April 30 to post missing person flyers for Walter, but she was prohibited from entering the premises. The Job Corps tried to contact Hull and Owens within a day of Walter's departure, but Walter had gone away, according to letters sent by Hull to her state representative and senator.

The police believed the Job Corps' claim that Walter had fled. A police officer interrogated Culver, who said that Walter despised Job Corps and continued to complain. Culver alleged Walter took marijuana, claimed to have taken LSD, and was intoxicated on the day he vanished. Within two days, Job Corps authorities informed Walter's mother of his absence, according to police. The investigating officer halted the inquiry due to a lack of information on Walter's location.

Walter's three friends departed the Job Corps in the summer of 1990. Culver and Forsgren were both expelled for rule infractions, although Calligan graduated. In 1994, Culver was readmitted to the Job Corps. He acknowledged in his application that he had a drinking problem and was aggressive when intoxicated.

Culver attacked and threatened a lady with a pistol in 2001. First-degree rape charges were dropped, and he pled guilty to third-degree assault and illegal weapons possession. Later, he was found guilty of promoting child sex abuse, sentenced to 21 months in jail, and compelled to register as a sex offender upon release.

After leaving the Job Corps, Forsgren also ran afoul of the law; he was convicted of many theft and drug-related charges over the following two decades. He was not interrogated by law enforcement over Walter's disappearance until 1996; he repeated the same account he'd told before, that Walter had gotten intoxicated that day and disappeared while the others were playing football.

After one of Walter's missing child flyers was discovered at the house of a suspected pedophile in 2004, the inquiry into his disappearance was renewed. A new officer from the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office in Washington, where Walter had been reported missing in 1990, located Forsgren and Culver and re-interviewed them; both repeated the same account.

Calligan was interrogated in 2005, his first police interrogation about Walter's abduction, and he corroborated the claims of Culver and Forsgren. Beller was also examined, although she claimed no recollection of Walter's disappearance and never dated him. The case was once again closed due to a lack of evidence.

Culver admitted the murder of Walter to his parole officer in August 2009. After enrolling in a drug treatment program that compels participants to make atonement for previous transgressions, he made his declaration.

Culver said that Walter was intoxicated and "whining," and Culver, annoyed by the loudness, beat Walter until he was unconscious. Together, he, Forsgren, and Calligan tossed Walter's corpse over 100 feet into the sea from the Yaquina Bay Bridge. When they returned to the Job Corps, the three young men cleaned their bloodied clothing and devised an explanation for Walter's abduction.

When the authorities questioned Calligan and Forsgren about Culver's confession, they confirmed it. Forsgren indicated that he believed Walter was alive when from the bridge. Calligan said he notified another Job Corps student and his sister about the murder immediately after it occurred; both witnesses provided statements to the police after the men's admissions.

In Walter's case, he pled guilty to manslaughter in October 2010. His punishment was ten years in jail, followed by three years on probation. Forsgren and Calligan confessed their involvement in Walter's supposed death and were granted protection from prosecution.

Police in Lincoln County, Washington, are investigating Walter's disappearance, which is classed as an abduction not involving a family member. Because of the facts, foul play is suspected in his case.

Sherry Eyerly

  In 1982, Eyerly worked part-time as a pizza delivery driver for a Domino's Pizza franchise in Salem, Oregon. She had just graduated from Sprague High School and shared an apartment in south Salem with a relative. She went to work on July 4, 1982.

Eyerly left her Salem workplace around 9:30 p.m. to deliver a pizza to a rural home on Riverhaven Drive south near Brown Island Road. She has never again been heard from.

The pizza delivery van of Eyerly was discovered abandoned later that evening. The parking brake was engaged, the door was open, three huge pizza boxes were strewn around, and Eyerly's cap was on the ground. 

The police concluded that Eyerly's destination address was false. Additionally, the individual who phoned in the delivery provided a bogus identity. The call came from a motel in Salem.

The day after Eyerly went missing, her employer, Domino's Pizza, received a call demanding a ransom for her safe return. However, the caller never contacted them again, and nobody ever sought to collect payment.

Darrell J. Wilson was considered a suspect in the Eyerly case for many years. A month after her disappearance, he killed himself only hours after being questioned by authorities about it.  He first denied knowing Eyerly but then revealed that he knew her. He drove a pickup truck that resembled a vehicle seen at Eyerly's disappearance scene just before she disappeared.

Wilson repainted the vehicle brown after her death. He was camped at Elkhorn Lake, thirty-four miles east of Salem, the night Eyerly vanished, but he disappeared between 6:30 p.m. on July 4 and 3:30 a.m. on July 5. Authorities inspected his car for tangible evidence linking him to the Eyerly case but discovered none.

Subsequent occurrences persuaded detectives that he was not involved in her disappearance.

In December 2007, officials reported William Scott Smith had pled guilty to murder in Eyerly's case.  He is already serving two life sentences in prison for the kidnap, rape, and strangling killings of two Salem women; his guilty plea in Eyerly's assumed death means another life sentence will be added.

He alleged that he and his accomplice, Roger Noseff, had intended to abduct another female Domino's Pizza worker and hold her for ransom. Still, the lady was not working that night, so they grabbed Eyerly. He alleged he strangled her to death later.

Smith said that Noseff placed the ransom call to Domino's Pizza. Noseff died of cancer in 2003 and was never prosecuted in Eyerly's case.

Smith stated he dropped Eyerly in the Pudding River, which is also where the remains of his previous two victims were found. Since the Pudding River has flooded several times since 1982, any evidence may have been destroyed.

Eyerly's corpse has never been discovered, although foul play is suspected owing to the circumstances surrounding her disappearance.

Katheryne Eggleston

On August 2, 1993, Eggleston was last seen in Portland, Oregon. In Lake Oswego, Oregon, she was leaving her job selling long-distance services for Allnet Communication Services Inc. It was her first day working on her own. That morning, she attended an Allnet meeting and made sales calls to companies on northeast Whitaker Way, then stopped at a bank, a fuel station and a Burger King restaurant near Lloyd Center.

At the afternoon of that day, Eggleston conducted business in the then-Port of Portland facility in the 700 block of northeast Multnomah Street. Five witnesses in the building said that she seemed anxious and distracted.

A guy to whom Eggleston had just made a transaction saw her leaving the elevator with a man wearing a blue blazer at 2:15 p.m. According to the description, he had black hair and a dark complexion. Eggleston has never been seen or heard from again, and her last known companion has never been identified.

Shortly before 5:00 p.m., a witness noticed a silver/gray Volkswagen Golf identical to Eggleston's parked in the Port of Portland parking lot. The supervisor of Eggleston was due to meet her at Lake Oswego at 5:00 p.m., but she never showed there.

A security officer discovered Eggleston's vehicle at 12:30 a.m. the day after she was last seen. In the 12000 block of northeast Airport Way, the car was in the parking lot of an industrial complex. The property is nine miles from the Port of Oregon.

The car was unlocked, its windows were rolled down, and the keys were in the ignition. The contents of Eggleston's wallet were on the front seat, and her gym clothing was in the back, but her Allnet binder was missing. There was no evidence that a struggle had occurred.

Joel Patrick Courtney is a potential suspect in the Eggleston case. He has a lengthy criminal record, a drug addiction problem, and possibly mental instability. In September 2009, he pled guilty to the abduction, rape, and murder of Brooke Wilberger, who had been missing since 2004 from Corvallis, Oregon, and led officials to her remains.

Courtney has traveled significantly during his life; he is known to have been in Alaska, Florida, Arizona, and Mexico, in addition to Oregon and New Mexico. Authorities suspect he has abused other women besides Wilberger, and Eggleston is a potential victim.

Eggleston had just graduated from college, while Wilberger was a sophomore in college. Both ladies had blonde hair and blue eyes and were close to the same age; Wilberger was nineteen years old, only three years younger than Eggleston. It must be stressed that there is currently no strong proof linking Courtney to Eggleston.

It is not thought that Eggleston departed of her own accord. She was close to her family, which consisted of her parents, three sisters, and four nieces and nephews, and she had no history of mental illness or runaway behavior. However, her passport has never been discovered. She had just graduated from Oregon State University, where she had been a sorority member.

Eggleston's unresolved case is believed to involve foul play.

Kimberly Forbes

Forbes was last seen at her apartment in Hood River, Oregon, on October 30, 2004. informed her daughter that she intended to have breakfast with a friend who lived three miles away on Wasco Street on October 31, then go shopping in Portland, Oregon, for flannel bedding and other winter essentials. She never showed up to her friend's appointment and has never been heard from again.

Along with Forbes, her 2000 Ford Explorer SUV with Oregon license plate XTB679 disappeared. The vehicle's trailer hitch has the outline of a pig.

On November 19, more than two weeks after Forbes disappeared, the SUV was discovered abandoned by  Don Pedro's Mexican Food in Gresham, Oregon, about fifty-five miles from her residence.

Its back passenger window was damaged, and there was no evidence of Forbes at the scene, but women's apparel, fast food containers, and credit card receipts were located inside and outside the vehicle. The driver's seat was positioned farther back than required for a motorist of Forbes' height.

 Investigators suspect the vehicle was broken into at the crime site. According to witnesses, it had been in the parking lot from no later than November 5.

Police questioned a guy from Gresham, Oregon, whose fingerprints matched those discovered inside the SUV. According to reports, he was helpful with the INVESTIGATION.

He confessed to going into Forbes's automobile when it was parked in the restaurant's parking lot and taking some things from it, but he denied involvement and said that the car seemed to have been broken into before his discovery. The individual consented to a polygraph examination in relation to Forbes's case. Investigators do not suspect him in her disappearance.

After Forbes's disappearance, authorities combed through her computer for evidence. She has engaged in several internet relationships and has met at least one ex-boyfriend online. However, nothing of relevance was discovered on her computer's hard disk.

Forbes WAS as a trustworthy, punctual individual who is unlikely to depart without notice. She was due to work as a teller at the Columbia River Bank in The Dalles, Oregon on November 1, but she did not show up.

Forbes was in a good mood when she was last sEEN. Since she disappeared, there has been no ACTIVITY on her bank accounts or credit cards, and her mobile phone has remained off.

Forbes did not often go to Portland by herself; she liked to bring along friends, but they were all BUSY on the day she intended to go shopping. Her family believes she was the victim of foul play, maybe a carjacking. They said she would have defended herself if she had been assaulted.

Even the police do not think Forbes fled voluntarily; they suspect foul play in her disappearance. Her case is still unresolved.

Some authorities cite October 31, 2004 as the date of Forbes's disappearance.

Thomas Gibson

Thomas was last seen playing in the front yard of his family's home in rural Azalea, Oregon, on March 18, 1991, at around 11:30 a.m. He has never been seen again.

Thomas's father, then-Deputy Douglas County Sheriff Larry Gibson, told officials that he jogged around the family's Azalea property in the late morning of his son's abduction. Larry brought a firearm to kill stray cats, many of whom had been residing on the property for some time.

Larry said he fired at a cat near Thomas playing but missed. He then went on his exercise and found his kid was gone after returning home roughly 45 minutes later.  

Later in the day, the family contacted police officers to search the property. Larry was instructed not to report to work at the sheriff's office, but he reportedly dressed in his uniform and left the premises for around 25 minutes during the investigation.

His four-year-old daughter allegedly observed an anonymous pair come into the driveway and take Thomas. Larry said he was searching for a nearby rest stop for Thomas and the couple. Larry waited at home as the neighborhood looked for Thomas; at one point, he advised the searchers to abandon their efforts since it was snowing.

Authorities assumed Larry shot and killed a stray cat since a dead cat was discovered on the Gibsons' property close to Thomas' last known whereabouts.

Investigators suspected that the gunshot had passed through the cat and fatally hit Thomas as he played. They hypothesized that Larry discovered Thomas's corpse upon his return from his jog and buried him to hide the murder.

Larry refuted this scenario and maintained his innocence throughout the inquiry. After his kid disappeared, he resigned from the sheriff's position and returned to his home state of Montana. He and his wife split in 1994, and she took their three other children and returned to Oregon.

Later, Larry's estranged wife and daughter revised their statements to the police, stating that his daughter observed him beating Thomas. Larry then placed the child's corpse in a black trash bag, put the bag in the trunk of his police vehicle, and fled the scene. In 1994, he was charged with murder in the Thomas case.

Prosecutors said that Larry had a history of assaulting his children and was stressed at the time of Thomas's disappearance since he was responsible for caring for his children while his wife attended college. They hypothesized that if Larry did not accidentally shoot his kid, he beat the boy to death out of rage.

Larry was convicted of second-degree manslaughter in 1995, despite his continued denial of participation. Since his 1996 release from jail, he has created a website seeking information on the location of his son.

Thomas could not be found. His abduction remains categorized as non-familial.

Toby Anderson

Toby was last seen in September or October 1986 in Selma, Oregon. Many organizations use August 22, 1988, as the date of disappearance.  At the time of his abduction, he had been bouncing between several relatives owing to family issues. They heard many accounts of what happened to him, including that he ran away or was killed in a vehicle accident.

In 2018, his cousin, Denise McGarity, started researching his disappearance and learned that Toby's paternal uncle, Almer W. "Billy" Wright, is the last known person with whom he resided. He attended high school at Illinois Valley. When McGarity wrote to Wright about the matter, he reported that Toby had been apprehended attempting to rape one of his children and had subsequently concealed in a chicken coop. Wright discovered him there and took him away in his vehicle.

Wright's contradictory accounts of where they went after that are unclear. He once said that he left Toby at either the juvenile detention facility or the police station in Cave Junction, Oregon. Another time, he said that Toby was likely dead, and if he died, he was slain by a blow to the back of the skull, and his corpse was buried on a California property. After Toby went missing, Wright allegedly threatened other family members, claiming that they would end up on a hill like Toby.

Wright was engaged in the drug trade and had a history of domestic violence at the time of Toby's disappearance, which is essential to note. After Toby was gone for many months, Wright relocated his family to Arkansas. He said he needed to care for his ill mother, yet his mother was not sick. He is incarcerated for rape and child abuse and is scheduled for parole in September 2021. .

The circumstances behind Toby's disappearance remain murky. There is no proof that he died in a vehicle accident, according to sure family tales, and if Toby had been left over at the police station or juvenile jail, as Wright claimed, a report would have been made, and Toby's parents would have been informed.

McGarity and law enforcement have found no evidence that Toby was still alive beyond 1986. McGarity thinks her cousin was killed the night he vanished and his corpse is buried on the five-acre property where he resided with his uncle. His case is still unresolved.

Jeremy Bright

Jeremy attended the Coos County Fair in Oregon with his nine-year-old sister and a group of his friends on August 14, 1986. He and his sister separated at 2:00 p.m., agreeing to meet up again near the ferris wheel at 5:00. He never showed up at their meeting place and has never been seen again.

Jeremy lived in Grants Pass, Oregon in 1986, but he had grown up in Myrtle Point and had many relatives living there. He and his younger sister enjoyed the fair and their stepfather agreed to take them there for the week so they could go to the festivities. He left his keys and wallet behind at his stepfather's home, as well as a watch he'd bought recently. He spoke to his mother on a pay phone on the day of his disappearance, and she stated their conversation was normal.

There were several possible sightings of Jeremy in the local area in the days following his disappearance, but none of them were confirmed. He was a basketball player in 1986, and was looking forward to starting high school.

Many rumors circulated about his disappearance: that he was accidentally shot during target practice or while swimming in the Coquille River, or that he died of a drug overdose at a party and his friends disposed of his body to avoid possible legal consequences. None of these stories have been substantiated, but the Coos County Sheriff believes he died the day he was last seen.

Many rumors circulated about his disappearance: that he was accidentally shot during target practice or while swimming in the Coquille River, or that he died of a drug overdose at a party and his friends disposed of his body to avoid possible legal consequences. None of these stories have been substantiated, but the Coos County Sheriff believes he died the day he was last seen.

Authorities do not believe Jeremy left of his own accord. He was close to his sister and it would have been uncharacteristic of him to abandon her, and he did not take his wallet or extra clothes when he went missing.

His mother and stepfather were going through a divorce in 1986 and he may have been somewhat troubled as a result; his grades dropped during the school year prior to his disappearance. However, he was described as a popular, likeable teenager and a star basketball player who was looking forward to the start of the school year.

Terry Lee Steinhoff is considered a person of interest in Jeremy's disappearance; he is Jeremy's former babysitter, and several witnesses reported seeing Jeremy sitting with him in a truck that night.  He wasn't cooperative with the investigation into Jeremy's disappearance, and in January 1988, he stabbed a woman to death. He pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to life in prison. Steinhoff died in prison in 2007.

Due to the lack of evidence in Jeremy's case, it is classified as a non-family abduction and a potential homicide. His family believes he's deceased and they held a memorial service for him in August 2011, on the twenty-fifth anniversary of his disappearance. Jeremy's mother thinks his body is somewhere in Coos County. His case is unsolved.

 

Kyle Horman

Kyron was last seen in Portland, Oregon, on June 4, 2010. Typically, he used the bus to go to Skyline Elementary School, where he attended second grade. Kyron's residence is located in the 15700 block of Sheltered Nook Road, about two miles from the school in the 11500 block of Skyline Boulevard in a rural area of northwest Portland.

Terri Lynn Moulton Horman, his stepmother, revealed that she took him to school because there was a science fair that day and Kyron wanted to put up his Red-Eyed Tree Frog exhibit. They delivered Kyron's coat and bag to his classroom before 8:00 a.m. A witness saw Terri and Kyron together in front of Kyron's exhibit around 8:15 p.m.

Terri claims that she left around 8:45 a.m. when the bell rang. She said that Kyron informed her he was heading to class. Nobody has ever heard from him again.

 Terri reported Kyron missing at 3:45 p.m. when he failed to return home at 3:30 p.m. as planned. No one reported seeing Kyron at school after the 8:45 bell. After classes started at 10:00 a.m., his instructor marked him absent, believing he was at a doctor's visit.

Because so many hours had gone since he was last seen, the police quickly initiated a thorough search. Over the following two days, they interviewed every student and staff member at Skyline Elementary School. They thoroughly investigated the building, school grounds, and surrounding area. It was one of the most extensive searches in Oregon's history. Kyron's family members characterized him as cautious and deemed it doubtful that he would leave school on his own.

Kyron's parents, Kaine Andrew Horman and Desiree Young have divorced since 2003. Terri and Kaine wed in 2007, although they had been dating for several years. Although Terri raised Kyron from birth, he did see Desiree and his stepfather, Tony Young, every few weeks.

At the time of Kyron's disappearance, Kaine and Terri had a one-year-old daughter, Kiara Ariel Horman, and Terri's teenage son from a previous marriage was living with her parents in June 2010.  

Less than two weeks after Kyron's disappearance, the police ceased their search and declared that they had escalated his case from a missing kid to a criminal investigation. In addition, they indicated that they did not believe a stranger kidnaped Kyron. They concentrated on Terri, claiming that mobile phone records revealed she was not where she claimed to be on the day her stepson vanished.

On June 26, three weeks after Kyron's abduction, Kaine left the family home. Terri made two 911 calls from their house on the same day. The first was labeled as a "threats" call at 5:17 p.m., while the second was classed as a "child custody" call at 11:39 p.m. Kaine was not around for either call.

In the days that followed, the police disclosed further evidence to the public: a gardener who worked for the Horman family told detectives that Terri offered him money to murder her husband six or seven months before Kyron's disappearance. When police informed Kaine of this, he immediately packed up Kiara and left.

The police tried a sting by sending the landscaper to Terri's door to demand money as undercover officers watched nearby, but Terri instead phoned 911 to report that she was being asked for $10,000. Kaine filed for divorce and a restraining order against Terri, claiming that he and the police suspected she was involved in Kyron's abduction.

A court prohibited Terri from communicating with Kaine, Kyron, and Kiara. Kaine sued Terri for custody of Kiara and child support. He accused Terri of trying to kidnap Kiara from her daycare two days after the restraining order was issued.

He accused Terri of trying to kidnap Kiara from her daycare two days after the restraining order was issued. Terri relocated to her hometown of Roseburg, Oregon, in mid-July, while Kaine and Kiara returned to their Portland home.

Investigators questioned Terri's friend DeDe Spicher over her suspected knowledge of Kyron's disappearance. They searched her residence and asked members of the public whether they had seen Terri, her white pickup vehicle, or Spicher between 9:45 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. on June 4. Spicher indicated she was unaware of Terri's involvement in Kyron's abduction and that she was innocent of any crime.

After the birth of Kiara, Terri, according to Kaine, suffered from postpartum depression and exhibited unusual behavior. He said in court records that she is an alcoholic, has a personality issue, and is "very emotionally disturbed." Kaine said that he feared Kiara was in danger with her mother and may have seen whatever happened on the day Kyron vanished. Four months before Kyron's disappearance, Kaine evicted Terri's teenage son in February 2010, according to several of Terri's friends.

Desiree told reporters that before  Kyron's abduction, she had sought custody of him and that he had often expressed a desire to live with her. Desiree sued Terri in May 2012, accusing her of kidnapping Kyron and requesting $10 million in damages. She has asked that the court force Terri to return Kyron or disclose the whereabouts of his corpse.  

Despite focusing on Kyron's stepmother, authorities have not yet identified a suspect in his abduction. Kaine theorized that Terri orchestrated the child's disappearance in an attempt to harm him and claimed she may have received assistance from another person. Kyron's parents continue to hold out hope that he is still alive. His case is still unresolved.