Missing Man Found Deceased Near Vida After Months-Long Search

VIDA: A Eugene man who disappeared in February while attempting to return to his disabled vehicle in the Gate Creek area has been found deceased, concluding an extensive multi-month search.

Lane County Sheriff’s officials said 42-year-old Michael Trevor Owen Naughton – who went by Trevor – was reported missing on February 19 after failing to return to his vehicle at a camp spot off Gate Creek Road.

According to investigators, Naughton had driven into the remote area via the Weyerhaeuser Mainline Road but ran out of fuel on Spur Road 60 in the North Gate Creek area. Text messages sent to his mother that afternoon indicated he planned to walk what he believed would be a shorter, roughly four-mile route to the Giustina Mainline Road. From there, he continued on foot an estimated six miles or more into Vida.

Surveillance footage later confirmed Naughton purchased two fuel containers – a 1.5-gallon red jug and a 5-gallon yellow can – along with drinks and snacks at Everyone’s Market. Family members said he was lightly dressed for cold, rainy conditions and wearing casual shoes, carrying a black backpack with his medications.

After leaving the store, Naughton arranged a ride with a man in a pickup truck, paying $20 in cash and contributing another $20 in fuel. The driver transported him partway back toward the Gate Creek area but stopped at a locked timber gate and declined to take a longer alternate route.

Naughton was dropped off around 2:30 p.m. and began walking toward his vehicle carrying the full 5-gallon gas container, which would have weighed about 44 pounds. At 3:42 p.m., he texted his mother that it would take some time to reach his car and that he would call her later. There had been no phone activity since.

Search and Rescue teams located Naughton’s vehicle the night he was reported missing and launched an extensive search effort in the rugged terrain. Over the following weeks, Lane County Sheriff’s Search & Rescue crews, along with partner agencies and volunteers, conducted repeated operations using search K9s, drones, and helicopters. Investigators also worked closely with a private investigator hired by the family.

Authorities said searchers covered miles of difficult ground and logged hundreds of hours in the field.

The search came to an end on April 21, when the private investigator notified the Sheriff’s Office that Naughton had been located on an abandoned spur road more than a mile east of his vehicle. The area, heavily impacted by downed timber from the 2020 Holiday Farm Fire, required crews to spend several hours clearing a path with chainsaws before recovering the body.

Officials said there is no indication of foul play.

The Sheriff’s Office expressed appreciation for the collaborative effort, thanking the private investigator, SAR volunteers, staff, and partner agencies involved in the search. Authorities added that search efforts continue in other missing person cases across the region.