September 25, 2024 5:10 p.m.

A missing McMinnville woman was found deceased in Douglas County on Wednesday, over seven weeks after she was reported missing.

A Myrtle Creek Police report said just before 9:30 a.m. an Oregon Department of Transportation employee was working along Highway 138E near milepost 53, several miles east of Dry Creek, when they saw a vehicle down an embankment.

Detective Kevin Taggart said Oregon State Police was called and responded to the scene. Taggart said the vehicle was confirmed to be the one that 69-year-old Kathleen Wilson was driving when she was went missing after leaving Myrtle Creek on August 5th.

MCPD, OSP, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office and ODOT all responded to the scene and located what is believed to be Kathleen Wilson’s body inside the vehicle. Preliminary information from the scene indicate that Wilson was driving eastbound on Highway 138E when her vehicle, for an unknown reason, traveled across the roadway and over a steep embankment on the opposite side of the highway. Taggart said the vehicle was in a location that could not be seen by anyone driving by.

The Douglas County Medical Examiner’s Office responded and took possession of the body. Next of kin was notified.

Taggart said MCPD would like to thank OSP, US Forest Service Law Enforcement, ODOT, wildland fire crews and law enforcement agencies in Klamath and Lane counties who assisted in the investigation. Taggart thanked members of the public for their assistance as well.