Former Corvallis resident spent night outside unprepared for elements

A 28-year-old Eugene woman who went missing from a friend’s house southwest of Philomath on Sunday evening emerged from the forest late Monday morning with a possible case of frostbite.

Search and rescue personnel had been looking for the woman for more than 12 hours.

Kusra Kapular, a former Corvallis resident, told her friends she was leaving their house on Henderson Road near Beaver Creek Road as the family was preparing for dinner around 7 p.m. Kapular left before her friends could stop her, Benton County Sheriff Diana Simpson said.

Kapular had told her friends she intended to hitchhike to another friend’s house in Eugene, Simpson said.

The woman’s friends said Kapular was in the house, wearing a lightweight white sweater, white cotton pants and dark socks without shoes when she departed into the cold night air, Simpson said.

Lightly dressed and weighing only about 100 pounds, Kapular was not prepared for spending the night outside, Benton County Emergency Management Coordinator Peggy Peirson said.

The Sunday night low temperature was 27 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.

Kapular showed up at about 10:30 a.m., walking out of the bushes behind a house about three miles from where she was last seen Sunday, said Sgt. Jenna Morrison of the Benton County Sheriff’s Office.

Simpson said trackers followed Kapular’s footprints to a graveled section of Henderson Road before losing her trail. It was unclear if she stayed along the road or disappeared into the countryside, Simpson said.

Kapular was found cold and wet by Corvallis Fire and Rescue paramedics and was sent to Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center to be evaluated for a possible case of frostbite on her toes and fingers, Morrison said.

Volunteer search and rescue teams searched for Kapular throughout the night. Neighbors and volunteers joined the search, Peirson said.