Missing Hoopa Man’s Truck Found Abandoned With Keys and a Full Load of Wood
Virgil Owen Bussell Jr [Photo from his daughter’s Facebook page]
According to his daughter Alicia Audelo, “It had been roughly about three weeks since he’d been to my house so I kind of had a feeling that something wasn’t right because he always comes to my house.” Virgil’s twin sister posted on social media inquiring if anyone had seen her brother and someone commented they had seen his vehicle on Deerhorn road, explained Audelo.
Virgil’s family found the vehicle “parked at an incline with a full load of wood in it, the windows were rolled down, his keys were in there, and the jacket that he always wears was in on the passenger side seat.”
“It was not like him to leave his truck open like that,” his daughter added. “I think it is way out of character for him to leave his truck like that for any amount of time.” Aduelo speculates her father “could have been out there cutting wood or possibly mushrooming.”
Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Samantha Kargas said Bussell “was reported missing on March 25, 2020, at about 8 p.m. after his truck was discovered abandoned on Deerhorn Road earlier that evening. Deputies searched the surrounding area Wednesday evening and continued their search today.”
A press release from HCSO describes their steps in searching for Bussell: “Deputies searched the surrounding area Wednesday night, continuing their investigation on Thursday. Today, March 27, the Sheriff’s Special Services Unit, the Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Posse and the Hoopa Volunteer Fire Department are conducting an extensive ground search of the area. Teams are searching through thick vegetation and rugged terrain in an effort to locate Bussell, Jr. or any evidence of his location.”
Aduelo added a K9 unit was searching the area where the truck was abandoned for any scent of Bussell. She recounted how “the handler went to Virgi’s truck and got out an article of clothing to help aid in the search and when I came off the hill the dog wasn’t picking up his scent anywhere.” At that point, Aduelo characterized the search for her father as “kind of at a standstill.”
Kargas described Bussell Jr. “as a Native American male, 5 feet 8 inches tall, approximately 180 pounds, with shoulder-length black hair, a beard and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans and work boots.”
Bussell Jr.’s daughter Alicia Audelo said her father often goes by “Uppity” or “Buscat”. She also provided some of her father’s notable physical characteristics: “He has tribal tattoos on his arms and on his chest, he is graying on his face and on his head. On his right upper arm he has “BUSCAT” tattooed and a noticeable lump on his forehead.”
HCSO’s Samantha Karges asks that “anyone with information regarding Bussell Jr.’s whereabouts should contact the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office at 707-445-7251 or the Sheriff’s Office Crime Tip line at 707-268-2539.”
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Earlier Chapter: Search Ongoing for Missing Man
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🕯🌳Maybe were he was orginally cutting wood he came across something he shouldn’t. You said he likes to go mushroom hunting and that can take you deep into the woods and he ran across some unfriendly people, and they moved his truck to a different location. 🖖
Willie, I agree with your comment about finding something he should have not. If someone moved his truck to a different location perhaps the police can find some fingerprints on the vehicle. Wonder if they have checked? I just hope he will be found and okay.
I agree with you Willie.. Praying for his safety and rescue..
There are 2 missing persons within a 30 day period under similar circumstances and no one is making the connection. Another person disappeared in the same area, left his valuables and his truck was abandoned on the roadside in a place where he didn’t typically go to. It was broken into and hotwired days later and then recovered by police.
So here we have 2 people that know the area, stocked with valuables they wouldn’t leave behind, whose vehicles were left abandoned, and are in unusual places. Missing person #1, Nick Vigil was on 2/25. Missing person #2 Virgil Busser was on 3/25. Both missing people are on Kymkemp. Is this a coincidence? Did person 2 see something related to person 1’s disappearance and now both are gone?
This is strange if their is anything person missing in the same area. Let the police know what you have read. He might of been mushroom hunting and ran into someone doing some illegal work. Moonshine or a Meth lab. Prayers
Truly strange that his truck, fully loaded with the keys in it, was found but not the man. I hope that his family can locate him soon.
Was his saw with the truck?
Yes it was.
🗣❤🙏 I hope he is ok
Can you tell if he cut the load of wood nearby? (Fresh cut stumps, sawdust, cut limbs – probably on level with or just uphill from the truck?)
Good luck and best wishes to this man and his loved ones.
That a good thought. You want to know if he really was there cutting wood or someone just moved his truck there to mislead searchers. There aren’t a lot of mushrooms this time of year (or a few weeks ago especially-it was so dry.) Good luck
Sure doesn’t seem like foul play, since criminal/opportunistic people love fringe benefits; a truck and a load of firewood wouldn’t have stayed there long if greedy jerks were involved. Hope he’s found soon!
🕯🌳If he accidentally ran across something more valuable in the woods than the truck then the situation fits. They didn’t want it found anywhere near where they were at. Was the truck found in a place he would normally go cut wood or mushroom hunting?🖖🕯
Shoulder length hair and a beard sounds very different from the picture above
he keeps it close cut mohawk style, with a braid down the middle in the back (i honestly cant be sure about keeping a braid recently); goatee/beard grows out fast; all of it is graying though.
Or he slipped and fell. Or had a medical emergency.
Its not always some big movie style story. Many missing folks are found later after falling in the river. Not that thats the case here, just saying its not always nefarious.
People lost in the woods down in Mendo i think it was, they made it 9 days before being found. Searchers looked daily with dogs. They were within a mile of a house but couldn’t get there, both survived, and no offense to them, but they werent even close to being as in shape as this man seems to be.
All that to say do not give up hope.
Im wondering if chp could use their infrared chopper? ? Too cloudy?
The rain makes ground search harder as its hard to hear above the rain&creeks.
So hoping hes found safe and sound with nothing but a good story to carry with him
🕯🌳Then they would have found him not far from the truck. You almost sound like a person involved trying to misdirect the investigation. 🖖
Honestly. Suspicion and paranoia are very sad things to see here.
“May he be found well soon” sounds to me like someone sending best wishes and trying to come up with comforting words. The idea that a person could have fallen or had some non-fatal accident of that type, but not yet be found, is by no means far-fetched. The search should go on, full-strength and with hope of positive results.
Did he go there with a dog and dog ran off? He chased after it and is lost?
Is there a second set of tire tracks? Two trucks collecting firewood?
No pets with him.
From what I can gather (cousin in close contact), people have been going up to where his vehicle was found since before official searches began.
His twin sister posted on her Facebook on March 20, asking if anyone had seen him, since she had not for a while. Someone commented that they came across his truck up Deerhorn, pulled over, and called out for him, with no response (obviously). And another person confirmed they had gone up to where his truck was to search independently once he heard Virgil had not been seen and his truck was up Deerhorn.
So as far as an extra set of tire tracks, not sure that can be determined to rule out if someone dumped his truck there, and was picked up by someone else, or if another party was with him and he left the area willingly, etc.
Amanda you are one strong women, when buscat is found, you should write a book about yours and his experience, what bothers me is he is a native, and hopefully this isn’t a sterotype, but hopefully he feels at home in the forest, and just got turned around and lost.
We will find him, I believe that, wholeheartedly.
Whether people choose to make that difficult or easier for us is up to them; the Creator of all will bless them or bind them for it.
If certain people of the area wants us out of there, they need to help us. Otherwise, get used to us. We wont stop looking for him.
I too am hoping against all hopelessness that he got turned around; or was picked up and just this once left his belongings in the truck, and is somewhere further downriver.
Uppity is a native of these areas in and around Hoopa weitchepec Otown … the girls have every right to be worried. Please if you have no idea ., don’t say maybe it’s no big deal. It is. Thanks
Sorry to say the search efforts in Humboldt county in recent years have been mostly failures. People found months or years later, only a few yards from where they went missing.
I sincerely hope there is a good outcome in this case.
🕯Prayers and hope for your family. 🖖🌳
So so very sorry you are all going through this! Has to be one of the hardest things ever! 🙏👵🏻
Have they fingerprinted the truck steering wheel&door handle to see if there’s any but his there?
If not its worth a try to call the closest fbi field office, i think its SF snd Sacramento, and even tho theyre busy call all your reps.
Huffmans folks are already familiar with area. Ask what they can do to help. Its all worth a try.
So hoping for the best!
thanks.
i’ll pass that on to be put into the list of considerations
Hope he is found safe an be alright. Lakota prayers going up for buscat
May he be found unhurt. Sending light out to him, his family & friends.
Has anyone tried to see if the truck starts and actually moves under its own power? With a full load of wood it could’ve broken an axle, u-joint in the driveshaft, or a hundred other things.
Or overheated maybe, and went to gather water for coolant,or went uphill to try to get cell service? Hoping for the best.
🕯🌳They can check were the truck has been by taking samples of any brush or other debris that might be on the truck if there not lazy.🖖🌈
Virgil knows that whole area around Buckhorn like his own backyard so he is not lost and knows everyone that grows upriver so he didn’t stumble into a garden. Virgil is very experienced in the mountains and taught me a lot when we all used to run around back when Gordon lived there. I was thinking he was camped down on the river not far from Buckhorn where we used to fish and camp back in the ol days but if his truck was 3 miles up Buckhorn and his coat and keys in the truck he would have walked down if there was mechanical problems with the truck. He has been gone since the 15th??? so the weather was not so bad during that period. He knows that whole mountain and along Buckhorn creek like the back of his hand because Virgil, Katep, Gordon and me ran around that whole mountain for years together. I was not worried about him at first, but its almost 2 weeks since anyone seen him? I will pray for him. Weather should be good next week so hopefully they will get a flight up.
Love Guides the Spirit >>><<<
Deerhorn/Hopkins Creek, not Buckhorn.
I know you know the location you meant though.
And yes, because he has a vast knowledge of the area, and knows when to back off from areas of high danger, it makes us all the more worried. I believe any more scouting/terrain search has to be organized by family. There were boats on the river on Friday. I think authorities said in order for flights to go out, it has to be an emergency, not that this isnt one, but like known location of a known live person in distress type of emergency 😔
We arent giving up hope though.
I must have just had a mental picture of when we used to be around Buckhorn, my bad. Dearhorn/Hopkins got it. I sent prayers in the wind to him and all the Bussell family. >>><<<
Just the name was mixed up, you are thinking of the right area. We did search around Gordon’s old place, as much as we could.
I will bet a 100$ he is close by. keep looking and yelling, and listening! blessings
We certainly hope so too 😔💟
Amanda. God bless you all My Heart is with you. Praying here in Arizona for my Cousin to be found. Rolly
His children, siblings, and all of their children appreciate it, thanks Rolly 💟
We will find him. I believe that with my whole existence.
Has anyone tried to search with a drone yet?
Prayers for uppity’s safety & to the family
No. I dont know of anyone who could do that
I lived out of the Denny area in the 70-80s. One thing I know is, Hoopa do not get lost. Is there a heavily used elk trail near where the truck was found ? He could have followed a herd crossing the road and got hit by a cat or two that were hunting the herd. Big cats are a problem. i hate to think of foul play but if so and something did happen then it must have happened at the spot he was bucking wood at/or near.( if you can find the spot) If the truck was moved to where it was found then more than one person will be involved, the truth will come out. I see another person disappeared 30 days earlier in same/near area. My heart goes out to you and your family, I hope and pray that you have answers soon.
I dont think there is an elk trail. I do know cats are known to roam this specific area. I thought about that too, as we scoured hillsides. I looked for drag marks, broken or disturbed vegetiation; tried to sense aroma of rotting flesh…there was nothing.
I too know if something afoul transpired, the truth will come out. People can help themselves by divulging what they know now, rather than wait for the worst and make it bad for themselves.
I know we will locate him, we will not stop until we do.
Amanda, do you have any news concerning where Virgil may be? I have been pray for him to be found safe, and praying for your family. God bless.
Not yet. Search efforts are still strong.
And we urge anyone and everyone who has any useful information, especially with back-up (video, photo, etc.) of his last known whereabouts, to call the tip line, anonymously, or even get in contact with one of us on social media. His daughter Alicia Audelo, his nieces Fawn Bussell, Rochelle Duncan, Fayanna Duncan, me – Amanda Pratt – my sister Verna Pratt, any of us in close relation, please contact us. No detail is too minute or irrelevant; from me, I will keep anyone who would like anonymous.
His family sincerely thanks anyone who has helped so far. It means the world to us. We wont stop until we find him! 😔💗
So sorry to hear of this. Is there a strong possibility that this man has been exposed to the virus and is riding it out in a protected place? May he be found safe and well.
We semi-joked about that.
But in all seriousness, I highly doubt it.
The area is dense with vegetation, unsavory characters litter the thickest of it. The best case scenario is he really did leave his vehicle and left willingly with someone further down the river where reception is scarce and he really doesnt know we are looking for him.
Worst case scenario is he was taken by surprise and someone has hidden him.
We will find out one way or another.
Blessings.
I just came across this post and I want to say I’m very sorry that you’re going through this. Sending some prayers your way. you’ll be in my heart when I sage tonight. Blessings to you and prayers for safe return from your Modoc s’aaMaqs (relative or cousin)
thank you 💖