OR OR - Fauna Frey, 45, Grants Pass, 29 Jun 2020

Fauna Poster

 
I think we can throw out the hiking theory completely now.


On the Newsweek podcast, John said that Fauna’s brother had recently died, and she was in Grants Pass to distribute silver coins totaling $25,000 in value among her brother’s friends.

When she went missing, John said that she had $18,000 worth of coins with her.


I don't know about you but I'm wondering where/how did Fauna's brother came in possession of
$ 25.000 worth of coins in the first place and why did these coins had to be distributed among "friends". Was he a collector, was it a loot, was he in debt with this people, just because he loved them so much and they were valuable to him in life?
Yes, completely throw out the hiking prediction...definitely seems like a robbery now.
I wonder who was aware that she had all of this this money with her
and it is so strange to intend to give so much of it away. Why?
 
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I caught this story on the news just tonight even though it is dated in September. Total game changer and very ominous indeed.

Some posters have questioned Fauna's familiarity with the area and IMO she was probably quite familiar with it. Her family lived in the Selma/Cave Junction area at one time and she had prior addresses in the Riverbanks Road area across US199/Redwood Highway from Fish Hatchery Road (the park) and Wilderville (where she dropped off the hitch hiker).

There is a series of Podcasts by Amanda Popineau called Nowhere To Be Found. She interviews Fauna's friends, her dad and her brother's friend "S", who Fauna stopped to see in Wolf Creek. The interview with "S" provides some history and context to the people Fauna was planning to see and IMO deliver the rest of the coins to, on behalf of her deceased brother. "S" also provides more details about how Fauna came to pick up the hitch hiker.

While it is easy to criticize Sheriff Daniel regarding the handling of Fauna's case, I would like to add some context to the challenges he faces. Josephine County is HUGE, 1600 square miles. The Sheriff has an extremely limited budget due to there being no sustainable source of funding for his department. This means a very limited number of deputies to patrol and no detectives. State troopers handle investigations and also answer calls during the hours when no patrol staff is on duty. At that particular point in time (2020), illegal dope grows were out of control and there was a lot of lawless people running amuck along the US199/Redwood Hwy corridor between Grants Pass and Cave Junction.

It seems like Fauna was ok on Monday, 6/29 at 2:40 PM when she made a reservation at the Weasku Inn but what happened once she got to Gooseberries Market (located just off US199/Redwood Hwy), is for me where the mystery begins.
 

I caught this story on the news just tonight even though it is dated in September. Total game changer and very ominous indeed.

Some posters have questioned Fauna's familiarity with the area and IMO she was probably quite familiar with it. Her family lived in the Selma/Cave Junction area at one time and she had prior addresses in the Riverbanks Road area across US199/Redwood Highway from Fish Hatchery Road (the park) and Wilderville (where she dropped off the hitch hiker).

There is a series of Podcasts by Amanda Popineau called Nowhere To Be Found. She interviews Fauna's friends, her dad and her brother's friend "S", who Fauna stopped to see in Wolf Creek. The interview with "S" provides some history and context to the people Fauna was planning to see and IMO deliver the rest of the coins to, on behalf of her deceased brother. "S" also provides more details about how Fauna came to pick up the hitch hiker.

While it is easy to criticize Sheriff Daniel regarding the handling of Fauna's case, I would like to add some context to the challenges he faces. Josephine County is HUGE, 1600 square miles. The Sheriff has an extremely limited budget due to there being no sustainable source of funding for his department. This means a very limited number of deputies to patrol and no detectives. State troopers handle investigations and also answer calls during the hours when no patrol staff is on duty. At that particular point in time (2020), illegal dope grows were out of control and there was a lot of lawless people running amuck along the US199/Redwood Hwy corridor between Grants Pass and Cave Junction.

It seems like Fauna was ok on Monday, 6/29 at 2:40 PM when she made a reservation at the Weasku Inn but what happened once she got to Gooseberries Market (located just off US199/Redwood Hwy), is for me where the mystery begins.

Excellent analysis @Hair of the Dog. I live next door in Jackson county and have watched Josephine county residents vote down funding for law enforcement on and off for years. There’s also a reluctance to talk to LE in many rural areas like this where marijuana is grown, so it’s hard for investigators to get information. It‘s no wonder that cases like Fauna’s go unsolved. There are many cases like this on Websleuths in this area and in the Emerald Triangle counties in Northern California. I can understand Fauna’s father’s frustration and also the Sheriff being upset that this info is public. It’s a very difficult case.

You‘re right that the mystery begins at Gooseberries Market. Did she meet someone there? Why didn’t she show up at the Weasku Inn? Who lives along her route to whom she was delivering silver?

JMO
 
Excellent analysis @Hair of the Dog. I live next door in Jackson county and have watched Josephine county residents vote down funding for law enforcement on and off for years. There’s also a reluctance to talk to LE in many rural areas like this where marijuana is grown, so it’s hard for investigators to get information. It‘s no wonder that cases like Fauna’s go unsolved. There are many cases like this on Websleuths in this area and in the Emerald Triangle counties in Northern California. I can understand Fauna’s father’s frustration and also the Sheriff being upset that this info is public. It’s a very difficult case.

You‘re right that the mystery begins at Gooseberries Market. Did she meet someone there? Why didn’t she show up at the Weasku Inn? Who lives along her route to whom she was delivering silver?

JMO
Why thank you @Lilibet! I have followed this case for a long time and my heart breaks for Fauna's dad who has suffered so much loss. They say you shouldn't outlive your children and the poor man has lost 2 for sure (Dallas and Aura) and I'm afraid Fauna too.

There have been questions about the people Fauna was trying to get in touch with on her trip and IMO they were the likely recipients of the rest of the silver coins. The Nowhere to Be Found Podcast, specifically S2E4, which is the interview with Dallas' friend S who provides a lot of background information including the following. The two people that Fauna was looking for were her brother's former girlfriend (who never heard from Fauna) and her deceased mother's common law husband, "R". According to S, when Fauna's mom died, R lost everything because everything was in her mother's name, so it went to the kids. Dallas regretted treating R so badly and IMO Fauna went to Cave Junction looking for him in an effort to make things right but was never able to make contact with him.

Upon departing Gooseberries, her last known stop, she would have made a left turn onto US199/Redwood Hwy to go to the Weasku Inn or a right turn onto US199/Redwood Hwy to return to Wilderville/Fish Hatchery Park.

Her friends say Fauna was very comfortable being alone and pretty much kept to herself. It seems dubious that she would have sought out the companionship of a stranger and she was not known to have any friends in the area.

Did she encounter the hitchhiker again and give her another ride? Was the hitchhiker aware that she was in possession of the coins from having been in Fauna's car the day before? Could she have been waylaid by a random stranger in the area?

IMO with the recovery of the half saddlebag with her name on it, all roads seem to lead back to the Wilderville/Fish Hatchery Road area.

I wonder if any of the missing coins have turned up? Does anyone know how easy or difficult it would be to convert them to spendable cash?
 
NOV 3, 2023
NBC News - 10 YEARS OF MISSING IN AMERICA
[...]

... In November 2023, the Josephine County Sheriff's Office told Dateline that Fauna's case is still open and active. Fauna is described as 5’6”, weighing between 135-150 lbs., with blonde hair and blue eyes. If you have any information that can help Fauna’s case, please call the Josephine County Sheriff’s Office at 541-474-5117.
 
Why thank you @Lilibet! I have followed this case for a long time and my heart breaks for Fauna's dad who has suffered so much loss. They say you shouldn't outlive your children and the poor man has lost 2 for sure (Dallas and Aura) and I'm afraid Fauna too.

There have been questions about the people Fauna was trying to get in touch with on her trip and IMO they were the likely recipients of the rest of the silver coins. The Nowhere to Be Found Podcast, specifically S2E4, which is the interview with Dallas' friend S who provides a lot of background information including the following. The two people that Fauna was looking for were her brother's former girlfriend (who never heard from Fauna) and her deceased mother's common law husband, "R". According to S, when Fauna's mom died, R lost everything because everything was in her mother's name, so it went to the kids. Dallas regretted treating R so badly and IMO Fauna went to Cave Junction looking for him in an effort to make things right but was never able to make contact with him.

Upon departing Gooseberries, her last known stop, she would have made a left turn onto US199/Redwood Hwy to go to the Weasku Inn or a right turn onto US199/Redwood Hwy to return to Wilderville/Fish Hatchery Park.

Her friends say Fauna was very comfortable being alone and pretty much kept to herself. It seems dubious that she would have sought out the companionship of a stranger and she was not known to have any friends in the area.

Did she encounter the hitchhiker again and give her another ride? Was the hitchhiker aware that she was in possession of the coins from having been in Fauna's car the day before? Could she have been waylaid by a random stranger in the area?

IMO with the recovery of the half saddlebag with her name on it, all roads seem to lead back to the Wilderville/Fish Hatchery Road area.

I wonder if any of the missing coins have turned up? Does anyone know how easy or difficult it would be to convert them to spendable cash?
I keep wondering about the coins too. It seems like the coins in Faunas possession wouldn't be uniquely identifiable, but I wonder if there is recordkeeping when these types of coins get traded?
Do pawn shops take them? If so, I thought there was some law where they had to record transactions?
 
With 39 ‘reported’ missing persons from Jackson county, the recent remains found could belong to anyone but the first two MP in this area that came to mind were Fauna and Stephanie Warner. There is no word on whether they are male or female as there is an active investigation and very few details have been released.

They were found near Applegate about 15 miles west of Jacksonville.

April 18, 2024

Jackson County Sheriff's Office detectives investigate the scene where skeletal remains were discovered in a remote area of Jackson County, Ore. on April 14. (Jackson County Sheriffs' Office)

 
Why thank you @Lilibet! I have followed this case for a long time and my heart breaks for Fauna's dad who has suffered so much loss. They say you shouldn't outlive your children and the poor man has lost 2 for sure (Dallas and Aura) and I'm afraid Fauna too.

There have been questions about the people Fauna was trying to get in touch with on her trip and IMO they were the likely recipients of the rest of the silver coins. The Nowhere to Be Found Podcast, specifically S2E4, which is the interview with Dallas' friend S who provides a lot of background information including the following. The two people that Fauna was looking for were her brother's former girlfriend (who never heard from Fauna) and her deceased mother's common law husband, "R". According to S, when Fauna's mom died, R lost everything because everything was in her mother's name, so it went to the kids. Dallas regretted treating R so badly and IMO Fauna went to Cave Junction looking for him in an effort to make things right but was never able to make contact with him.

Upon departing Gooseberries, her last known stop, she would have made a left turn onto US199/Redwood Hwy to go to the Weasku Inn or a right turn onto US199/Redwood Hwy to return to Wilderville/Fish Hatchery Park.

Her friends say Fauna was very comfortable being alone and pretty much kept to herself. It seems dubious that she would have sought out the companionship of a stranger and she was not known to have any friends in the area.

Did she encounter the hitchhiker again and give her another ride? Was the hitchhiker aware that she was in possession of the coins from having been in Fauna's car the day before? Could she have been waylaid by a random stranger in the area?

IMO with the recovery of the half saddlebag with her name on it, all roads seem to lead back to the Wilderville/Fish Hatchery Road area.

I wonder if any of the missing coins have turned up? Does anyone know how easy or difficult it would be to convert them to spendable cash?
There are many coin shops in both Counties who would buy them.
 

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