Associated Press
May. 20, 2004 02:15 PM
PORTLAND, Ore. - A man and his 12-year-old daughter spent four years living in a remote hillside in Portland's Forest Park, until they were spotted by a runner last month, police say.
Tipped by the runner, officers found a tarp-covered, wood-framed shelter deep in the park, covering sleeping bags, a Bible, a stack of old World Book Encyclopedias, and tools. A rope swing, a tilled vegetable garden and a small creek were nearby.
A police dog found the pair huddled behind a tree about 50 yards from the camp. They appeared clean, well-fed and healthy, police Sgt. Michael Barkley said, and the girl was well-spoken beyond her years.
The man identified himself as Frank, and 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.
Rather than live on the streets and expose Ruth to alcohol and drugs, Frank said, they hiked deep into Forest Park and built the shelter. During the four years they lived in the park, they left the park twice a week to bank, attend church, buy groceries and clothes from Goodwill. Frank, a devout Christian, said he taught his daughter using the old encyclopedias. They lived on a $400-a-month disability check.
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.
"Their living conditions were unacceptable, but their relationship was a real deep love and caring for each other," Barkley said.
A pediatrician found the girl healthy, with no sign of physical or sexual abuse. A criminal background check came up empty.
Police persuaded them to leave the camp, and they spent two nights at a homeless shelter. Then 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, they are living in a mobile home and adjusting to life with heat, electricity and running water. Frank 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 cop was cool as hell to find him a job
for you police officer
Cosmic Defender Champion!
Linear Mode
