Hello everyone! Long time lurker, first time poster. I live in the general area where Fauna disappeared (Rogue Valley). I had some free time today and thought I would go out and try to find the area where her vehicle was recovered. I have read that her jeep was located just past a boat launch area on Graves Creek on Mt. Ruben.
I had never heard of Mt. Ruben (but that doesn't mean much) so I typed it into Google maps and it came up with 'Mt Ruben Rd', which begins in the town of Glendale, Oregon. It was 66 miles from my house so I grabbed a Dutch Bros and hit the I-5. An hour or so later I pulled off the lone exit marked Glendale. This is way out in the boonies. The exit ramp made a full circle under the interstate and the view coming out from under the bridge was breath taking. Tall mountains of thick pine as far as the eye could see.
The bridge had graffiti and taggings on it which was a little out of place given how remote the place is.
As I took in the view, I came to a fork in the road. One direction that pointed left said 'Glendale- 3 Miles' or an option to go straight said "Glendale High School/Azaela Rd". I choose the 3 miles and it was a long three miles, sprinkled sparsely with farm houses, a mill and untended fields. I took the "Glendale High School/Azeala Rd." on my way out and it was equally as long and sparse.
Once I made it Glendale, I pulled over to get my bearings. Its a very small town, population 821. There is a main drag with an elementary school, one cash-only bar, a coffee shop that was closed and a little grocery store. The main st is called Pacific Ave. While it is the 'main street' in that the towns shops are on it, it's by no means the 'main street' or center of town. The town itself is spread out for being so small. There were quite a few homeless folks, which while not uncommon in this part of Oregon, I found it a litle odd being so far out.
After the shops on Pacific Ave, there were a few houses and the road became Mt. Ruben Rd. A yellow sign read "Dead End". The road was paved and there were a lot of mail boxes so I decided to keep going. Another sign read "County road mainted 4.5 miles". It was a beautiful drive. A creek ran beside the road at some parts, insects buzzed loudly and squirrels scampered in the trees. It was remote and wooded, tons of foliage. There were more residences, and while fewer and farther between, they ranged from normal houses to a well appointed ranch, a 10 foot tall boarded driveway with huge KEEP OUT signs, and a few mobile homes.
There was nothing to indicate on the 4.5 mile drive that there was anywhere to camp, hike, fish, etc. It was pretty clearly a residential road. Lots of "No Trespassing" signs and no where to pull off and park. At the end of 4.5 miles the road became unpaved and came to a fork. Both sides of the fork had "no trespassing" signs. I was scared to go further so I turned around.
Does anyone know if I was in the right place? I am pretty sure once the county maintained road runs out, the road continues until its becomes a BLM road. There was no boat ramp. There were very few people- I saw the mail man and one other car.
I only have one overwhelming thought today and that is it would be a really werid, out of the way place to stumble upon. You really, really have to try and get there.
If this is where Fauna's car was found, I have a hard time believing that she went there to hike/camp/recreate. I understand she had some familairty with the Rogue Valley; but this was very much off the beaten path, its far away from Grants Pass and the Weaksu Inn, there is really not alot there, and there are no marked hikes or anything to indicate such. If she went there to take her life she had to have been there before. Someone had to live there at some time or something. Just my thoughts.
All of this is to say, Im not sure I was in the right spot today. If anyone knows a more percise locations I would love to know.
Also in my research I think Fauna was last seen 2 years ago today. We are looking for you!!
I followed your route on google maps from Glendale out on Mt. Reuben Rd. If FF did get to the Grave Creek boat ramp from there, it's a heck of a drive that looks challenging with a lot of elevation gain and cliffside sections of one-lane dirt road, surely without guardrails. Seeing that it's unpaved and marked 'no trespassing' nearly back in town would have had me turning around way before I got to that point, too!
However, I was able to find a much quicker, easier route to the Grave Creek boat ramp area coming from the Weasku Inn. It's a short trip, just under an hour.
www.google.com
The Grave Creek area looks like a gorgeous recreational haven. Waterfalls, scenic hiking trails, camping along the Rogue River. If you drive across Grave Creek bridge and hang a left toward the Rogue River National Recreation Trail, you'll end up on BLM Rd 34-8-1. If you keep driving that BLM road, it's name changes a few times with the direction of travel, then eventually becomes Mt. Reuben Rd. heading back into Glendale.
I'm wondering if various map sources have this whole stretch of logging road from the boat ramp to Glendale listed as Mt. Reuben Rd, leaving out the wordy and confusing BLM Rd. names entirely. The name changes from BLM Rd. 34-8-1 to BLM Rd. 34-8-13, to BLM Rd. 33-8-13....I can see how these very similar names could be be hard to keep track of and if you take the wrong one, it might land you deep into the forest at a dead end.
When they say her vehicle was found on Mt. Reuben Rd/"on a dead-end spur off of a mining road in rural Josephine County,” not far past the Grave Creek boat ramp, I'm sort of inclined to believe the road we'd be looking around on google maps for clues, it's going to be one of these numbered BLM Rds. and not what's listed as "Mt. Reuben Rd." like you followed from Glendale. I would also love to know exactly where her vehicle was found out there.
In searching for old maps to try and test this road name theory, I did com across something I never considered before:
Mines and Prospects of the Mount Reuben Mining District
Some mining districts in Oregon were prospected extensively in the early days of mining and then suffered a long period of quiescence until the price of gold was raised in the early 1930's. Such a district was the area near Mount Reuben in northern Josephine County. The district contains
many prospects as well as the
Benton mine which was rejuvenated in the 1930s and was the largest producing mine in southwestern Oregon until war conditions closed it down.
A little more info here
https://www.oregongeology.org/pubs/B/B-034.pdf and here
Mount Reuben - Oregon Gold
It's been a long time since I've refreshed my memory on Fauna's disappearance, but I'd love to know if the presence of mines was ever discussed, if the ones out in this district have been dismantled, or if there's any way at all for someone to have used an old mine shaft out in the deep woods for nefarious purposes. Have they been searched?
As I seem to recall, there are more than a few missing women out in this part of Oregon, and if someone were targeting women traveling alone, knowing they had a pretty solid hiding place, where no one would think to check, would be something I would consider.
On google maps, I did see what looked like some RVs out on the BLM road not far past the boat ramp, and they weren't the kind that just go out for a weekend, but perhaps ones that stay there full time. If someone who squats around the area took her out there, they'd be familiar with the terrain, know she would have little chance to escape, would be without cell reception to call for help and then they would be able to walk back home from wherever they left Fauna behind. IMOO.
