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."
That's a nice story.
My grandmother wouldn't have thought the conditions so unacceptable. As long as the children were clean and well educated.
/john
What a great story.
Sounds like he was a good and honorable man doing very well with what he had.
For once, a little common sense.
The family has riches most will never know.
Bless all those involved.
Amazing what can be accomplished WITHOUT the socialist NEA and government SERVICES!!!
I am pleased to see that the police used common sense and helped the father and daughter, rather than calling in the social workers.
Nice story.
Amazing that the press is reporting this in such a positive light. I'll bet they expected bad news from the pediatrician.
It kind of reminds me of Heidi and her Grandfather.
Only to the credit of the particular man who found them did this have a happy ending....
Most other police would have automatically thrown the father into jail after having the "child protective" service wrench his daughter away with no concern.
ummm... electric water?
OH! THE HUMANITY!!!
</sarcasm>
But seriously...
Aside from the fact that they were squatting on public land, why are the authorities messing with these people? Since when does an Aussie jogger getting his knickers in a bunch constitute a cause for alarm? Heaven forbid this guy should ever travel down to rural Baja.
My mom's 11 brothers and sisters were in the same shape, They were sharecroppers in rural Mississippi.
All were literate, clean, and Christian, and all eventually lived to have happy, successful lives.
A Viet Nam Vet and, Once a Marine always a Marine.
Then you have Kerry, his daughter in her see thru dress at Cannes. Seems Kerry did less with more.
This Marine Did more with less.
Shows what Honor and integrity can do.
You can contact the North Precinct of the Portland Police Bureau here
503-823-2120
7214 N. Philadelphia St.
Portland, OR 97203
Scott Anderson, Precinct Commander
Sbt Barkley
Or you can email Chief Foxworth
Email Chief Foxworth, and thank Sgt Barkley
I called them and sent an email...
The man deserves a medal and so does the kid. He was a veteran, lived on a shoestring and sounds like a great father willing to take work that (supposedly) only illegal aliens will do.
Of all the amazing things in this article, I don't think the police really stood out.
I can understand the involvement of the police in evicting these people (and I support that decision...transients shouldn't be able to just "build a house" in the middle of a park), but it sounds like everything beyond that was driven by this officers caring about their well being. They got them out of the dirt-floored lean-to and into a proper home and even got him a job. This, IMO, is what Christian charity is all about. A hand up, not a handout.
What a great story.
The most amazing part is the Authorities did the right thing.
They checked him out, they checked her out, and even found him a job.
Also the fact that this girl performs at a 12th grade level says a lot about public schooling, huh?
Good to see a happy ending.
Regards,
Joe
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