OR DANE PAULSEN: Missing from Siletz, OR - 1 March 2025 - Age 2

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Search on for 2-year-old Oregon boy who disappeared while playing in front yard​

Authorities in Oregon are searching for a 2-year-old boy last seen playing in his home's front yard but out of sight of his parents, the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office says.

Dane Paulsen was reported missing around 4:25 p.m. Saturday, the office said in a statement on social media.

Members of the sheriff's office and fire and police agencies searched the property and surrounding areas on foot and with drones with thermal imaging equipment Saturday, the office said.

On Sunday, search and rescue teams were conducting methodical searches of an area north of the small city of Siletz, near the Siletz River, using divers, drones, dogs and watercraft, the sheriff's office said. Volunteers who wanted to help were urged to stay out of the main search area.

Almost 300 people were involved in the search, the sheriff's office said.

As of Sunday evening, 382 acres had been searched and 283 miles covered, the office noted.

A vehicle and male driver Dane's parents didn't know who were spotted near Dane's home around the time he was last seen were found and were "no longer a point of interest," the office said Sunday evening.

The office said an Amber Alert hasn't been issued because Dane's "disappearance does not meet the criteria to use the Amber Alert system," adding that, "There is no evidence at this time to suggest criminal actions are involved in this incident."

"Dane is friendly and fearless, and is comfortable around strangers and water, but cannot swim. Dane is known to love water and vehicles," the sheriff's office pointed out.
 

Sheriff’s office hopes to bring in fresh search crews Monday for 2-year-old Siletz boy missing since Saturday afternoon​

The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office hopes to bring in more and fresh search teams from around Oregon on Monday as they race against time to find a 2½-year-old boy missing from property along the Siletz River since Saturday afternoon.

They are searching for Dane Paulsen, whose parents told Lincoln County Sheriff’s deputies that he was last seen at 4:25 p.m. Saturday playing in the front yard of their house at 20738 Siletz River Highway, four miles north of the town of Siletz.

A search Saturday night and again on Sunday with deputies, four search and rescue teams, police from six other departments and more than 100 volunteers found no trace of the boy.

Dane – who has brown hair and green eyes — was wearing a gray, fuzzy hooded fleece coat with teddy bear ears, black pants and blue and white shoes, the sheriff’s office said.

More than 100 Siletz community members also helped search Saturday evening, but on Sunday were asked to stay out of the primary search area which consisted of a three-mile radius around the house and nine-acre property. Instead they gathered at a campground on the north side of the Siletz River and helped search outside of the main area of interest.


One major mysterious element of the search was eliminated Sunday, the sheriff’s office said Sunday night.

A station wagon and man, both unfamiliar to the Paulsen family, were seen near Ojalla Bridge near the family’s property about 30 minutes before Dane’s disappearance, the sheriff’s office said. After alerts on Facebook by the family and police notification, a person who saw the notices and the car called police Sunday afternoon. Sheriff’s deputies found the car and man and determined he was not a person of interest, said Shanks.

“There is no hard evidence that makes this a criminal investigation,” Shanks told YachatsNews on Sunday night.

Shanks said there was never a direct link of the vehicle to the boy’s disappearance, no suspect and no license plate – so therefore it did not meet the criteria to use the statewide Amber Alert system.

Dane’s parents, who the sheriff’s office has not yet named publicly, are fully cooperating with investigators and searchers, Shanks said, and giving full access to their home and property.
 
This case is ALL over the news here. I'm very familiar with the area as I've been there more times than I can count. There is water EVERYWHERE and is not far from the Pacific Ocean.

He's been gone so long that I fear the worst.
 
This case is ALL over the news here. I'm very familiar with the area as I've been there more times than I can count. There is water EVERYWHERE and is not far from the Pacific Ocean.

He's been gone so long that I fear the worst.
I fear he's in the river as well. Hopefully they can find him.
 
So basically they are right on the river more or less as to where they reside. A 2 year old unsupervised.

Who last saw him? There are independent sightings I'd hope?

Prayers for his safety.
 

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