Gov. Kate Brown deployed a pair of military helicopters in the wake of Thursday's mass shootings in Roseburg to make sure that the remains of the nine victims would be returned to funeral homes there as quickly as possible.
The unusual situation arose because the bodies of the victims were sent 175 miles north to the State Medical Examiners Office in Clackamas, which handles homicides from Douglas County.
At a Friday morning briefing, Brown learned that it could be several days before the bodies could be returned to Roseburg and that the families might have to bear the expense. "The governor said, 'That is unacceptable,'" said spokeswoman Kristen Grainger, explaining that two aides began working on the problem.
The solution: Have the Oregon National Guard use two Black Hawk Helicopters to ferry the remains back to Roseburg. Brown spoke by phone with an official in the U.S. military chain of command to activate the Black Hawk crews, putting the cost on the federal government, she said.
Two funeral homes in Portland - First Call Plus of Oregon Mortuary Services and Portland Cremation Center and Mortuary Services -- agreed to transport the bodies without charge from the medical examiner's office to nearby Camp Withycombe.
The helicopters reached Roseburg by Friday afternoon and were met by officials from local funeral homes and police escorts. Grainger said the return was swift enough that the families may not have been aware that loved ones had been taken to Clackamas.
The gunman's remains were also ferried up to the medical examiner's office in Clackamas on Thursday. But Eugene Gray, forensics administrator, said his office was told to send the remains of the nine victims to Camp Withycombe. He said the shooter's body was returned to Roseburg in a vehicle from a private funeral home.
While it was unclear how much the Black Hawks sped up the journey, "one more wait just prolonged the agony," said Grainger, "and that was unacceptable for the governor."
--Jeff Mapes
503-221-8209
@jeffmapes