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StrangeOutdoors 1/27/18 StrangeOutdoors 1/27/18

The strange disappearance of Robert Bobo in the Rogue River National Forest

Robert bobo disappearance Rogue River National forest

Robert Michael Bobo, disappeared October 2, 1998, Woodruff Meadows area, Rogue River–Siskiyou National Forest, Oregon.

Revised July 2024

Robert "Bob" Michael Bobo, 36, was camping in a remote, heavily wooded area in the Rogue River National Forest between Prospect and Union Creek, Oregon, in October 1998. The area is to the west of Crater Lake National Park, where there have been several mysterious disappearances.

Hunters saw a female dropping him off at his campsite in the Woodruff Meadows area near 700 Road on October 2, 1998, at around 9 pm. He was a part-time woodcutter living alone at Woodruff Meadow for a few weeks.

The next day, a friend came to pick up Bob, but he was nowhere to be seen. He had vanished from the campsite, never to be seen again.

What is and where is the Rogue River–Siskiyou National Forest?

The Rogue River–Siskiyou National Forest is in the states of Oregon and California. The formerly separate Rogue River and Siskiyou National Forests were administratively combined in 2004. Now, the Rogue River–Siskiyou National Forest covers almost 1.8 million acres (7,300 km2) from the crest of the Cascade Range west into the Siskiyou Mountains.

The Disappearance of Bob Bobo

On October 3, 1998, one of Bob’s friends arrived at his camp at Woodruff Meadows to pick him up for the opening of the hunting season and found no sign of him, even though he had no vehicle of his own.

He quickly contacted National Forest Rangers to report Bob missing.

Friends and family were worried that Bob left everything behind, including his favorite black Pape Cat cap, two rifles, all his clothes, and all his camping gear. He knew the area too well to get lost, and he had no money to leave alone.

Numerous searches were conducted around Bobo's campsite, but no evidence was uncovered. Authorities stated there were no indications of foul play, but they do not believe Bob left of his own accord.

What happened to Bob Bobo?

Robert Bobo was one of three Rogue Valley men who had disappeared into the area’s forests around 1998.

Jackson County sheriff’s deputies investigated the case. “It’s just suspicious. We don’t know what happened", said Detective Dan Hobbs, who suggested Bobo could have left the campsite and suffered an injury or medical emergency.

Robert's brother, Dennis, traveled to the Prospect area to search for skeletal remains at least once a month, looking for clothing, pieces of fabric, or bones, but managed to find nothing, saying, “We’ve played a million scenarios through our heads. We’re reasonably sure he’s not going to show up.”

According to Dennis the fact that he left behind his baseball cap is all the proof that is needed that somebody killed his brother. Dennis said, “When he woke up in the morning, before he even went to the bathroom, he put his hat on.” He was self-conscious about his receding hairline, and he never went anywhere without his cap.

Dennis Bobo also said his brother was too familiar with the territory to get lost. He doubts his brother would have wandered very far if he had suffered some kind of major medical problem, and even if he wanted to leave, he was too broke.

On the night he was last seen alive, Bob cadged dinner and drinks from friends in Prospect before bumming a ride to the campsite. To be that broke and then dropped off 14 miles outside of Prospect at the campsite would be consistent with someone planning to go deer hunting in the morning, not leaving town.

Given the circumstances, Dennis Bobo said he was 99 per cent sure his brother was a victim of foul play and was unhappy with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department. "There’s no evidence of foul play as they consider it, but put two and two together: Where is he if there’s no foul play?"

Sheriff’s Detective Dan Hobbs said, "Good question. At this point we have nothing to indicate foul play, Needless to say, it is suspicious in nature that he would up and disappear like that. Basically, we’ve done all we can do, he says. I sympathize with the family, not knowing, but we’re just grasping at straws here."

Hobbs says he checked out several leads, but none panned out. Bob ran with a sketchy crowd, and rumors about his disappearance flourished in Prospect.

The fact that Bob Bobo left behind all his gear at the camp, including valuables like his firearms, is highly suspicious. Was he attacked in his camp that night in October 1998 by someone or something? To this day, Bobo's body hasn't turned up, and there is a complete lack of evidence of an animal attack—another weird Oregon disappearance.

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