Saving Lives Trumps Conflict Of Interest Guidelines

You may have heard the story of three mushroom collectors who were found after being lost for six days in a southern Oregon forest. Daniel and Belinda Conne and their 25-year-old son Michael were airlifted out of the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest on Saturday and spent the night recovering in a hospital. But the man who finally spotted them from his Robinson R44 (similar aircraft pictured) was violating Jackson County ethics guidelines by participating in the search, and says he'd do it again.

John Rachor is a 63-year-old county commissioner who says he's flown on about 15 search-and-rescue missions, and last weekend wasn't his first save. In 2006, he found Kati Kim and her two young daughters after their car became stuck in snow in a wilderness area, trapping them for nine days. Her husband, James Kim, died of exposure after leaving to walk for help. Kati and her daughters were saved.

The Oregonian reports that was before Rachor was elected to the Jackson County Commission. Now, part of his responsibilities include overseeing the budget for search and rescue, and his reimbursement of $420 for the fuel used to find the Connes is therefore, technically, a conflict of interest.

Rachor says that if its hunters reported lost, there's a good chance they're prepared to last a few days while ground search crews find them. But he tells the paper, "If there is a 4-year-old boy, all bets are off and I am going anyway. When you have something like this, when people’s lives are at stake, I will always go."

FMI: Conne Rescue ; Kim Family Story