Daughter believes missing Troy man alive

By GWEN ALBERS Western News Reporter

Karen DeJong believes her father's still alive, despite his March 3 disappearance from his home near Troy.

Two of Keith Nickerson's homemade walking sticks, found near his abandoned, snowbound vehicle more than 300 miles away in northeastern Oregon, gives DeJong that hope.

"When he went hiking, he had to have his walking stick," she said. "I was hoping somebody gave him a ride. That's the only way I could imagine him laying his walking stick down."

Wallowa County rescue officials on March 19 called off a four-day search north of Enterprise for Nickerson, who suffers from dementia although his neighbors at Kootenai Vista near Troy say he hid it well. About 20 people combed a 5-square-mile area after a resident found the 75-year-old's vehicle on March 16; another reported seeing the 1988 blue Jeep Cherokee a week earlier.

The effort will continue in early May when the Oregon county sheriff's department hosts a regional training for search dogs.

"I think there will be about a half dozen cadaver dogs here," county sheriff Fred Steen said. "We will go out and search the area with those dogs, which are trained to find decomposition."

A retired electrician who 11 years ago moved home to Montana, Nickerson was last seen at a store in Troy.

Based on bank records, Nickerson's daughter believes he had $150 to $300 with him.

No money has been withdrawn since his disappearance, Steen said.

"That's another indicator he's potentially not with us," he said.

Nickerson's Jeep was found on a remote road that's not traveled in the winter except by snowmobile or on foot, Steen said.

"He either got a ride or he's out there deceased some place," Steen said.

There was no sign of foul play.

DeJong, 46, speculates that in a confused state her father may have been lost and asked for directions to Troy, Mont., and had been guided to Troy, Ore., in Wallowa County.

Nickerson knew how to take care of himself.

"He was an avid hiker. He would hike with his dog," said DeJong, who lives in Modesto, Calif. "He was always very careful. As he was getting older, he would take ribbon and would tie it along the way to find his way back."

Nickerson also avoided risks.

"In his truck at home, we found backpacks, an extra change of clothes, plastic to cover up with," she said. "He's always done that for the last 30 years. I never had any doubt about his ability to take care of himself."

Neighbor Bonnie Jenks, who described Nickerson as physically fit, said he never went further than Troy or Libby.

"He was a little guy who walked the animals every day," Jenks said. "Our little dog used to sit out there and wait for Keith. He would reach over the fence and rough up his hair. You could set the clock by him, even when it was 4 (degrees) below. He never missed."

Two days before his disappearance, a motorist hit Nickerson's dog and didn't stop.

"He would walk around the community with his dog," said neighbor George Yeadon. "The dog was right close to him when it was hit and killed."

The next day, Nickerson adopted a shepherd-huskie mix from Kootenai Pets for Life in Troy. He paid the $60 fee, and agreed to get the dog the next day.

He never showed.

"We still have the dog," said Tami White, a board member for the shelter. "I imagine if somebody wants to adopt her, we would adopt her out."

Jenks, also a volunteer at Kootenai Pets for Life, said when Nickerson failed to pick up the dog, she became suspicious.

""I just couldn't figure out where he was," Jenks said. "He's usually home. When his rig wasn't there, we knew something was up."

DeJong arrived three days later and filed a missing person report with the Lincoln County Sheriff.

"When I was there looking for him, people told me they were shocked to hear he had dimentia," she said. "He could hide it."

DeJong hadn't seen her dad for two years.

"He wouldn't come to California and he didn't like traffic," she said. "For him to travel so far is just unlike him."