CA CA - Eric Campbell, 47, from Eureka, camping Patrick Creek Area, reported missing 18 Sep 2024 *animals left at camp, hood up on truck*

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Maybe insignificant, but I grew up camping almost every weekend. We always brought our dogs and many people do. But I have never heard of someone bringing their cat before. Was that a normal thing for him? Do people bring their cats camping?
Yes people do take their cats camping with them. My source is knowing that all my family pets go camping except for the goldfish. Dogs cats turtles... at one point I had a goat and took her along on camping trips.

If he planned on staying awhile he probably felt that bringing his dog and cat was easier than leaving them home or hiring pet sitter. MOO
 
Article also states that "He had brought his dogs and his cat and had camped there for a bit."
Was he living there instead of camping for a few days?
Considering the article states "He brought his dogs and cat and had camped there for a bit" it probably means he was in fact camping somewhere. I haven't read anywhere that says he was living in the woods.
 
This is a well known free camping area, listed on Google Maps as "Shelly Creek Campground." There are many more campsites up the road. I've stayed there before, it's well off the beaten path. The legal stay limit is 14 days. Wonder how long he was there and if anyone else was camping in this area at the time?
 

•set up camp about a mile up the road from U.S. 199 near where Patrick Creek meets Shelly Creek
•his family went to the area in search of him
•camp doesn’t look like it has been disturbed
•not clear if Campbell got a ride from someone and left the area, but it’s unlikely he would have left his animals behind
 
SEP 24, 2O24
Eric Campbell, 47, was camping in the Patrick Creek area on the banks of the Middle Fork Smith River before he disappeared. His family reported him missing on Sept. 18, the Del Norte County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.
 
Why was the hood of his truck up? Were the truck, pets, and camp at the same location?

Leaving the hood up usually means that the vehicle stopped working. My first thought was that he was driving with is pets, had vehicle trouble, opened the hood ... were the pets in the vehicle, or at the camp? If they were in the vehicle, then it sounds like he went somewhere on foot because he had vehicle trouble. If he was on the road, I'm guessing that he shouldn't have too much trouble with bears.

I haven't looked at maps, and I need to read more media releases.

Why was the hood up? What message is that when nothing else is disturbed?
I was googling around and saw that people leave their hoods up to discourage pack rats (wood rats) from getting in there to nest, and chewing wires. I always learn something new! Wouldn’t have thought that’d be the reason he did that, but, could be?

At this link, no new info, except for a photo of him that says is more recent. Nice photo. kymkemp.com

IMG_0470.jpeg
 
I was googling around and saw that people leave their hoods up to discourage pack rats (wood rats) from getting in there to nest, and chewing wires. I always learn something new! Wouldn’t have thought that’d be the reason he did that, but, could be?

At this link, no new info, except for a photo of him that says is more recent. Nice photo. kymkemp.com

View attachment 533451
Good idea, but pack rats are desert issue not pacific nw
 
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slowpoke, that's a new one for me, too, good to know. I thought with his proximity to Shasta, maybe this could be related to the pot farms up there, intentional or accidental? I saw the car hood being left up as a possible "was in the middle of something when he was disrupted" kind of thing.
The illegal marijuana business is pretty much dead in this area after legalization of remaining farms and cartels moving to the Mojave Desert where there is less enforcement so highly unlikely IMO
 
As a long-ago Humboldt County resident, that’s the best news I’ve heard in a long time!
They just busted an illegal marijuana operation in Hayfork (Trinity County), but that's much more secluded than where Eric was camping. I do wonder if there were some shady drug users involved with his disappearance though, lots of meth users in the vicinity. I definitely stay on alert in the area
 
They just busted an illegal marijuana operation in Hayfork (Trinity County), but that's much more secluded than where Eric was camping. I do wonder if there were some shady drug users involved with his disappearance though, lots of meth users in the vicinity. I definitely stay on alert in the area

I’m glad you’re alert! We haven’t visited our longtime friends in SoHum in a long time, partly because I can’t travel at the moment, but also because of the creepy atmosphere.

In my experience on the Emerald Triangle threads, drugs play a part in the majority of the missing person cases. Eric seems pretty straight arrow and owns his own business, so I doubt he’s involved in drugs (but you never know). He could have crossed paths with the wrong people though. Or be a victim of his seizures. I hope he’s found OK.
 
1728012399083.jpeg

October 3, 2024

According to his family, Eric may have travelled into Hiouchi to the store, Obrien Market or into Crescent City, based on his cell phone records and cell Tower pings. Eric had been in daily contact with multiple people, friends and family up until the evening of Monday, Sept. 16 when his phone records abruptly stopped just before 8PM.

 
View attachment 535221

October 3, 2024

According to his family, Eric may have travelled into Hiouchi to the store, Obrien Market or into Crescent City, based on his cell phone records and cell Tower pings. Eric had been in daily contact with multiple people, friends and family up until the evening of Monday, Sept. 16 when his phone records abruptly stopped just before 8PM.


There have been multiple sightings of him in Crescent City and Grants Pass.[Oregon]

Eric is 5’4 with a slight build, perhaps about 120 lbs.
Sheriff Garrett Scott reports Search and Rescue continues to search the area with canine and drone service but laments the missing camper may have left the primary area of search. The Sheriff did not rule out the possibility Eric Campbell may have met foul play.

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