From Oregon to the email inbox

The latest on the Gene Cour dragnet...

Hey Mark,

I had to write you after I found out about your story. It has been so fascinating to learn that the guy living out in the woods that we have been refering to as our "Hobbit," actually has a son who has been looking for him!

I am a forest engineer and work for a timber company in Oregon. The area where I work includes the Alsea area. And on top of that, Alsea is about 30 miles from where I live. About 4 or 5 years ago, we noticed that someone was building a trail thru one of our recent clearcuts. Turns out, there were two people living in our clearcut. I was told it was a man and woman, both in their 80's. The sheriff did find their hole in the hillside and told them they needed to leave. We were sure where they went, but it appeared they did leave that specific area they were in.

At one point one of my coworkers and I hiked the clearcut they were living to try to find their hole in the hillside. The sheriff had told us that their dwelling actually had two rooms and plastic over the front of it. We didn't have any luck finding them. They did a really good job concealing their hole. But because of how they had been living, we continued to joke about them as "Hobbitts."

A few weeks ago I ran into the Benton County Sheriff woods deputy. I told him that we were cutting in an area close to where the hobbitts had been living and the cutters were finding signs that they had habitated that area also. Deputy Iverson went on to tell me about arresting both Gene, then Lisa. He then went on to tell me about your story. After we looked up your blog and read your story, we were shocked to find out that our "hobbitt" had family that had been looking for him that long!

From what I have gathered from the locals, there are some people up Honeygrove Road (the area where Gene and Lisa have been living) that have maybe been helping them out. I was also told that Gene was schizophrenic. I have never seen Gene, but I have seen Lisa twice on her bike headed into Alsea.

I hope you don't mind that I dropped you this email. Just wanted to let you know how interesting it was to learn about Gene and you! If there is any information or anything else you need from Oregon, feel free to drop me a line!

JXXX XXXX

*Name redacted by Markie.

I'm supposed to recieve a phone call from this person tomorrow. And, I'm excited and fascinated all over again.

Later