Man vanishes after going to Oregon coast to photograph high tides, family says
_fitted.png "Joseph “Joe” Neill’s family is looking for him in Coos County, Oregon, after he never returned home. His vehicle was found Dec. 16.")
A man disappeared after going to an Oregon beach to photograph the high tide during a full moon, family and authorities said.
Joseph “Joe” Neill’s vehicle was found at about 2:30 a.m. Dec. 16, the Coos County Sheriff’s Office and his family said in Facebook posts.
It was parked on the Transpacific Parkway near Jordan Point, which overlooks Coos Bay, deputies said.
Neill had gone to Horsefall Beach and “would have either walked to a few low points inland for reflections of the full moon with the king tide or perhaps along the shoreline,” his family said in the post.
A king tide is the “highest predicted high tide of the year at a coastal location,” according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
These higher-than-normal waves typically occur once or twice a year during a full and new moon because of the moon’s gravitational pull on the Earth.
Police dogs were used to look for Neill in the coastal area, deputies said, and authorities discovered a cell phone.
The U.S. Coast Guard searched for him in Coos Bay but didn’t find him.
Search efforts were paused “as there was evidence to suggest that Mr. Neill was elsewhere,” deputies said in the post.
His family described him as a survivalist who could manage any situation.
“My dad means the world to us, please share as quickly as possible, let’s find Joe!” his son, Andrew Neill, wrote on Facebook.
Coos County is near the southern Oregon coastline.
This story was originally published December 18, 2024 at 10:51 AM with the headline "Man vanishes after going to Oregon coast to photograph high tides, family says."
