PAMELIA LAKE, Ore. - A 61-year-old woman who got lost in the wilderness overnight was found alive but incoherent and suffering from advanced hypothermia Monday morning.
Lynette Gail Cubic, 61, of Salem, was reported missing by her companion, Lee Hettema, 64, also from Salem, while picking mushrooms Sunday in the area around the Pamelia Lake trailhead, the Linn County Sheriff's Office said.
Cubic and Hettema got separated in the afternoon.
Hettema was able to get back to his vehicle at the trailhead, then drove home before reporting Cubic missing to the Marion County Sheriff's Office, who passed the report to Linn County Sheriff's dispatch at shortly after 6 p.m.
Deputies and members of the Linn County Sheriff's Search and Rescue Post reached the area around 9 p.m.
At approximately 12:30 a.m. Monday, the Linn County searchers discovered cut mushroom stems and boot prints near the Pamelia Lake trail about a half mile from the trailhead in the Wilderness Area.
Searching the area throughout the night in rain and snow, they eventually came to a creek and followed tracks they believed to have been left by Cubic.
On Monday morning, additional Linn County searchers and deputies responded to the area as well as a search and rescue team from Marion County Sheriff's Office. Members of the Linn County Sheriff's Mounted Posse also searched the area on horseback throughout the morning.
Early Monday morning, Linn County team discovered what appeared to be a campsite along Pamelia Creek.
Further downstream near the creek they found articles of Cubic's clothing. Linn County Sheriff's Staff Sergeant Ken Stewart responded in a pickup to where the creek meets a road at about 10:55 a.m., where he found Cubic as she was just coming out of the timber.
She was dressed only in undergarments, was incoherent, and suffering from advanced hypothermia, the sheriff said.
Stewart dressed Cubic in some of his own extra clothes, put her in his sleeping bag to get her warm and transported her to the command post at the trailhead.
Medics from Lyons and Gates Fire Departments responded and transported Cubic to Salem Hospital.
Her condition at this time is not known.
