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Lost boy apparently shot himself 14-year-old from Wimer taken to Portland hospital By Jill Briskey ROGUE RIVER � A 14-year-old Wimer boy who spent three days wandering in the woods with an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound was transported to Doernbecher Children�s Hospital in Portland Thursday night. Bear O�Farrell�s mother found the teen in a ditch about a mile and a half from his home at 200 Covered Bridge Road Thursday morning. A spokesman at Rogue Valley Medical Center, where O�Farrell first was taken, said the boy was moved to Doernbecher after complications from the gunshot wound to his face arose. His condition was downgraded from fair to serious Thursday night. "He had been out there for quite a while," said Sgt. Terry Larson of the Jackson County Sheriff�s Department. "The gunshot wound to his head appeared to be self-inflicted." Sixty people from several agencies helped look for O�Farrell after his family reported him missing Tuesday. Search teams from both Jackson and Josephine counties were brought in, as were dogs. Efforts concentrated on the family�s 60 acres of property. The search was hampered by heavy fog and the steep, woody terrain, Larson said. O�Farrell�s mother was looking for the boy Thursday morning when she apparently heard him yelling for help. Larson said the petite woman, whose name wasn�t available, carried her son halfway home before meeting up with other searchers. O�Farrell was treated for his wound and hypothermia by members of the search team and the Rogue River Rural Fire Department. While authorities think O�Farrell shot himself, they have yet to find a gun � or a motivation for the shooting. So far, Larson said there are no signs that drugs were a factor. Larson doesn�t believe anybody else was involved in the shooting. The investigation will continue until authorities have a chance to speak with O�Farrell again. "Hopefully, we�ll be able to learn what�s going on," he said. "It�s just a real sad story." Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.