Posted on 05/20/2004 6:08:07 PM PDT by chance33_98
Father And Daughter Had An Elaborate Camp
Rather than live on the streets and expose Ruth to alcohol and drugs, Frank said, they hiked deep into Forest Park and built a lean-to.
"The amazing part of this was the fact that Sergeant Barkley really evaluated what was best for these people," North Precinct Cmdr. Scott Anderson said. "Sometimes police would be a little quicker to hand things off to state workers. But instead ... he saw this through to the end."
PORTLAND, ORE. - A man and his 12-year-old daughter spent the last four years living in a remote hillside in Portland's Forest Park, police said. The pair was discovered in a dense, wooded area by an Australian cross-country runner and his wife.
They reported seeing an older man with white bushy hair and a beard, and a young girl at what appeared to be a "well-established transient camp." They called police on April 28.
That afternoon, North Precinct Sgt. Michael Barkley sent four officers on all-terrain vehicles to find the pair but they didn't find them.
"We had very little to go on, " Barkley said. "There's no way you could not do everything you could because it was a report of a child living up there."
The next morning, the runner escorted police to the site.
After an hour-and-a-half hike, police found an elaborate camp dug into a steep hillside.
Under a tarp-covered, wood-framed shelter, they found sleeping bags, a partially burnt log, a Bible, a stack of old World Book Encyclopedias, rakes and other tools.
A rope swing, a tilled vegetable garden and a small creek were nearby.
A police dog found the pair huddling behind a tree about 50 yards from the camp.
The man and girl told police they had lived in the park for four years. The pair appeared clean, well-fed and healthy, Barkley said, and the girl was well-spoken beyond her years.
The man, who identified himself as Frank, told police he was a 53-year-old Marine Corps veteran and college graduate who served in Vietnam.
He came to Oregon with his daughter, Ruth, from Tacoma with no job and virtually no money. Frank told police that the girl's mother was institutionalized in New Hampshire, and the two now lived on a $400-a-month disability check.
Rather than live on the streets and expose Ruth to alcohol and drugs, Frank said, they hiked deep into Forest Park and built a lean-to.
The pair went into the city twice a week to stop by the bank, attend church, buy groceries and clothes from Goodwill. Frank, a devout Christian, said he taught his daughter using the old encyclopedias.
They grew vegetables and used the nearby creek to keep clean. They stored perishable foods in a small pool of water at the creek's edge.
The man and girl told police that the runner was the first person to find their camp in four years.
Their biggest worry was being split up, Barkley said.
"Please, don't take me from my daddy," the girl told the 26-year police veteran as they sat on a log talking for at least 30 minutes.
Barkley, who has a 6-year-old daughter, said he was struck by the relationship between father and daughter.
"What was so clear was that their living conditions were unacceptable, but their relationship was a real deep love and caring for each other," Barkley said.
Officer Joe Campbell, who helped find the pair, said separating the pair would have broken their hearts. "Their whole lives seemed to revolve around each other," said Campbell.
A pediatrician found the girl free of any illness, any signs of physical or sexual abuse - and no cavities. A criminal background check came up empty, according to police reports.
Even though the child and father lived for such a long time disconnected from society, the girl had been home schooled and was in good physical shape.
In fact, the girl received a very good education from her father while living among the trees. Officials said the girl, who would be normally in 7th grade, is at a 12th grade equivalency.
"When we interviewed this little girl, she was very impressive. She really was very responsible, and she really looked as though she was way advanced in her years," said Portland Police Cmdr. Scott Anderson said.
KATU Television has been given permission from 'The Forest Family's' father to set up a college fund for 12-year-old 'Ruthie.'
To make donations for the girl, who for the last four years have lived in the forest and was educated by her father, to 'Ruthie's College Fund’ at any Bank Of America Branch.
Police say the father was ecstatic when KATU offered to set up a college fund for his daughter.
The father has done a wonderful job of educating the girl, says police. She reportedly performs at a 12th grade level.
Police persuaded them to leave the camp, promising help them find food and shelter.
The pair spent two nights at a homeless shelter. Barkley found the man a job and a place for the two to live on a friend's horse farm in Yamhill County.
Now, Barkley said, the pair are living in a mobile home and adjusting to life with heat, electricity and electric water.
The man mows lawns and is learning to drive a tractor, and the pair ride bicycles to a nearby church on Sundays.
"The amazing part of this was the fact that Sergeant Barkley really evaluated what was best for these people," North Precinct Cmdr. Scott Anderson said. "Sometimes police would be a little quicker to hand things off to state workers. But instead ... he saw this through to the end."
Damn that is a cool story, movie material.
I don't trust the media. They are constantly giving the NEA a cat bath. They will probably spin this as an attack on Republican economic policies.
It can also be taken as a symptom of mental illness by the father.<- Why do you say that? Just because they are in the woods, I have always said, if I were to fall on hard times..I would not be a city dwelling bum. I would head for the woods and live out there.
Maybe the mainstream networks will. But until then, I will enjoy this story.
I couldn't have said it better myself!
bump to read later
bttt
They are devout Christians. So much for the movie!
As a child of the 50s/60s, our family would regularly take off every summer and live in a camp on a lake or river. Dad would do the 9 till 5 and come on weekends. The rest of us would survive with fishing, swimming, etc to fill the days.
No electricity, running water, etc.
It's amazing how some people think that a/c is a necessity. Yes, it's nice, but as long as there is air movement (like fans or an evap cooler) things can be tolerable. My landlord last year accused my husband of turning on the a/c last summer (he didn't) because he could not believe that we could have possibly survived record breaking heat in Arizona without it. First, the summer before was the first time since before I was ten years old that I had a real a/c in a place I lived and second we just kept the evap cooler (it's a dry heat, after all) and fans running all the time. There were times we wouldn't want to move from in front of the fans, but otherwise no biggie. We saved about $200 on our electric bill doing that.
You sound like my husband. He said if he ever really needed to he could easily live out of a tent.
FINALLY SOME HORSE SENSE IN OFFICIALDOM!
THANKS, LORD!
Wow, a great story. And thank God the Sergeant had sense to deal well with those two.
The only problem is when the well brought up girl goes to college. Dad better pick a good one so she doesn't go down the tubes.
And now they're on a horse farm out in the country! There are good people in the world.
"The amazing part of this was the fact that Sergeant Barkley really evaluated what was best for these people," North Precinct Cmdr. Scott Anderson said. "Sometimes police would be a little quicker to hand things off to state workers. But instead ... he saw this through to the end."
Agreed. Now, if it would only appear more often in government agencies.
Like, for instance if the Navy has a plane crash in a swamp and LEAVES it there for 40+ years, they shouldn't get all upset when someone retrieves the planes and starts fixing it up (like they did with the only known surviving Corsair built by Brewster).
Sounds like a great idea. My first thought was that he ought to go to the Portland police academy, if not for his age.
And enjoy every minute of it, a tent , a fishing pole and I would of course would have to find a way to go into civilization for cold beer and would obviously need a place to keep my beer cold. That's all I need a tent , a fishing pole , cold beer and a web connect so I can get on Free Republic, can't do without Freepin! Maybe I better stay home and pay my mortgage?
Well said. Wonderful story. Made my day.
The fact that they were found with a Bible, an encyclopedia, and that she tested at a twelth grade level should ease your concerns.
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