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'It's just been miserable sitting here waiting' By SARAH LEMON The search for a missing Medford man has been called off in Oregon. But John Winslow's wife is still waiting for the phone call telling her that he's been found. Frances Winslow, 75, said John - a 70-year-old lifelong hiker - usually leaves a note to tell her where he's hiking. Tuesday he didn't. Frances, who is undergoing chemotherapy treatment for cancer, said she was taking a nap when John left around 1 p.m. with a lunch, some water and a cellular phone that may not have been recharged recently. She was worried Tuesday night when he didn't return home. On Wednesday morning, she notified police. Winslow, who likes to hike in the south Jackson County area, said something to his wife a couple weeks ago about taking a day trip to Pilot Rock. She suggested that Jackson County Sheriff's Department Search and Rescue start looking there. "I just had this hunch, you know," she said. But a sheriff's deputy found Winslow's blue Honda Civic at the intersection of Mount Ashland and Colestin roads later that day. Frances said she feels that if she hadn't pointed search and rescue workers in the wrong direction, perhaps her husband already would have been found. Although John's doctor told Frances that her husband of 44 years shows the early signs of Alzheimer's disease, she said she doesn't usually worry for his safety when he is off in the woods hiking. He is in excellent physical condition, hiked every weekend during the summer and usually brought home a pizza for dinner when he returned. Police have been concerned about John's welfare because of recent cold weather. Frances said he usually carries a flashlight and likely would walk all night to keep warm. The fact that he was lost overnight about a year ago while hiking in the same area didn't overly alarm Frances. After she picked him up at the Interstate 5 rest stop in California where he walked out of the woods, he told her that he had walked all night and didn't seem to know how he'd "gotten turned around." He hadn't been lost since. Before moving with Frances to Medford in 1995, John hiked all over the San Gabriel Wilderness Area outside the couple's home in Altadena, Calif. He has lived near mountains all his life, she said, but hasn't spent any extended time in the woods. She said she believes, however, that he's made it to California by now. "I want to get out there and drive up and down the roads," she said. "It's just been miserable sitting here waiting." Her nephew and some friends did drive Colestine Road on Friday night. Two area residents told sheriff's deputies Thursday that they saw John heading south between 8:30 and 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Sheriff's deputies asked Frances for John's shoe size Friday, saying they had found some prints in the area that may be his. John Winslow is described as standing 6 feet tall and weighing 160 pounds. He has a full gray beard, gray hair and blue eyes. He was last seen wearing a red peaked hat and possibly an olive-drab jacket. Although the sheriff's department called off the active search for Winslow on Friday night, anyone with any information on his whereabouts is asked to call the department at 541-774-6800. The Siskiyou County Sheriff's Department with the help of the California Highway Patrol will continue to search through today. "I'm just overwhelmed at everything they're doing," Frances Winslow said. "I'm just so grateful to everybody." Reach reporter Sarah Lemon at 776-4487, or e-mail [email protected]. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.