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Published February 07, 2012, 11:00 PM

Oregon copter pilot has knack for finding the lost

John Rachor painted his helicopter orange and yellow, so it would be easier to spot if he ever crashed and became the target of a search and rescue operation in the rugged forests of southwestern Oregon.

GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) — John Rachor painted his helicopter orange and yellow, so it would be easier to spot if he ever crashed and became the target of a search and rescue operation in the rugged forests of southwestern Oregon.

Over the past six years, he has been the one doing the spotting.

Saturday, he found three members of a family who got lost while picking mushrooms. And in 2006 he found a San Francisco family who got lost while driving over a snowy logging road in the same region.

Search and rescue coordinator Sara Rubrecht says Rachor is a “crazy good” searcher, with a talent that can't be taught.

Rachor attributes his success to good eyesight, a willingness to think outside the box, and the hard work of the scores of other people involved in a search.

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