Man Found In River
Identified as Charles Rider

Klamath River - On September 24, 2005 the body of a man was found and recovered about four miles downstream from where Charles Ray Rider, 38, was last seen nine days before. He jumped into the Klamath while being pursued by a Deputy and one of the K-9 dogs working for the Sheriff’s office. Positive identification of Rider was made using fingerprint comparison on September 28. Exact cause of death is pending receipt of toxicology tests which will take several weeks.

The incident leading to the loss of Rider started when the Siskiyou County-Wide Interagency Narcotic Task Force (SCINTF) served warrants on a residence at 12912 Highway 96 at 7:30pm on September 15. A K-9 Deputy stopped a car leaving the residence in which Rider was the passenger. The driver, Karen Kilpatrick, 47, a resident of Klamath River, was arrested, charged with revocation of probation. She has since been released.

According to information received from the Sheriff’s office, when Rider was asked to get out of the car he threw an open can of beer at the Deputy and began running west on Highway 96. The Deputy deployed his K-9 partner to give chase and as the dog got close to Rider, he ran down the river bank and jumped into the Klamath River. The dog followed, and both dog and Rider disappeared around a bend in the river. The dog eventually returned but Rider did not, and he hasn't been seen or heard from since.