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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 26, 2018)
NEWS BlueMountainEagle.com Couple Continued from Page A1 after the fi re that cadaver dogs had searched the debris from the house fi re and found no human remains. Several weeks later, Palmer said the FBI and state police were assisting in the investi- gation. The case was labeled a homicide investigation on Sept. 5 after evidence found at the site was confi rmed to be of human origin. The Smiths bought the 80- to 100-acre property on Nan’s Rock Road in the mid-1990s, Sharon’s sis- ter Cathy Hinshaw told the Eagle. Hinshaw, who lives in Hawaii, said she spoke to Sharon the evening of the fi re, and Sharon had said they were heading to bed. Contributed photo The cabin owned by Terry and Sharon Smith on Nan’s Rock Road burned July 17-18 and the case was later declared a homicide. Hinshaw said she spoke to her sister sometimes two to three times a day. A man who watched the Smiths’ property when they were in Hawaii or other locations had traveled to Idaho for his wife’s medical appointment and was return- ing the next day, Hinshaw said. The Smiths planned to clean up the caretaker’s house the next day before he returned. Hinshaw said she received a call at about Wednesday, December 26, 2018 4 a.m. from a friend of Sha- ron’s who lived near Nan’s Rock Road and learned about the fi re. She later told the Eagle that she suspected the couple were dead from the very beginning, despite offi cial law enforcement reports. Terry and Sharon Smith fi rst met in junior high school in Springfi eld when he was 13 and she was 12. Terry was a “go-getter” at that age, Hinshaw recalled. He found a job as a bus boy at a restaurant in a large hotel in Eugene and worked his way up to assistant man- ager within a month. Sharon was a cheerleader in high school but left with Terry before graduating after he was hired to help man- age a hotel at Seattle-Ta- coma International Airport in Washington. Later, the Smiths returned to Oregon to operate two trading posts or second-hand stores and then two restau- rants. They later followed Hinshaw to Hawaii, where Terry made numerous real estate investments over the years. The couple also started a clothing business in Bali, designing and manufactur- ing clothing they later sold in Birch Bay and the San Juan Islands in Washington. The Smiths never had children but always kept busy and were a happy cou- ple, Hinshaw said. Terry kept an eye on his numer- ous business interests and was an active hunter and fi sherman. Sharon reuphol- stered furniture and worked in senior homes and hospice. Hinshaw recalled the Smiths serving food at home- A3 less shelters on Thanksgiv- ing and Christmas. She said Terry would “give you the shirt off his back.” Sheriff Palmer announced two major break- throughs in the case on Oct. 24. First, the missing pickup truck had been found by police in Boise, Idaho. Sec- ond, the Oregon State Med- ical Examiner had tested DNA from human tissue dis- covered at the burned cabin and found it conclusively matched Terry Smith’s DNA. The Grant County Sheriff’s Offi ce has not announced if any human remains matched DNA from Sharon Smith, and the investigation continues with assistance from the FBI, Oregon State Police, Boise Police and the Hilo Police in Hawaii. Site Continued from Page A1 Zhongzhen has encour- aged every travel agency in China to promote visits to Kam Wah Chung. Two months later, a film crew from Beach House Productions of Sin- gapore came to John Day to work on a documentary for the American version of Discovery Channel. Brand and Beth Howlett, from the Oregon College of Oriental Medicine in Portland, were presenters in the video. The Kam Wah Chung site had been featured on Oregon Public Broadcast- ing in 2009, but Merritt anticipated a significant boost in tourism as a result of the documentaries and promotions in China. To accommodate bus- loads of tourists at the small and fragile historic site, the Oregon Depart- ment of Parks and Rec- reation plans to build a new interpretive center that will be larger and fea- ture sophisticated lifelike exhibits. The state’s plan for the site includes acquiring city-owned park land adja- cent to the state heritage site — including Gleason Pool. John Day officials welcomed the state’s pro- posal as a way to boost economic development, but the state’s plans set Eagle fi le photos A cameraman from Yiping Media Group fi lms Professor Zhao Zhongzhen from the School of Chinese Medicine in Hong Kong at the historic Kam Wah Chung store in John Day on Aug. 1. in motion a number of actions by the city. The city announced in July plans to hire consul- tants to look at options for replacing Gleason Pool. The city expected to receive about $1 mil- lion from the state for the city park land, which would help pay for a new pool. On Sept. 11, the John Day Planning Commission took a first look at rezon- ing the city and state park land at Kam Wah Chung. Meanwhile, the Grant County Chamber of Com- merce helped establish a sister-city relationship with Ha-Pen, a village in Sijiuzhen where Ing “Doc” Hay and Lung On, owners of the Kam Wah Chung business, lived before coming to the U.S. Former chamber president Jerry Franklin led an effort to construct a new sign on Main Street for the historic site featuring Chinese-style tigers and dragons. Merritt reported that 8,851 visitors came to the site in 2018, slightly down from 2017, which was bol- stered by the eclipse. For the first time, the interpre- tive center took reserva- tions for tours this year. Merritt said guides con- ducted 16-20 visitors per hour through the small store, and some visitors were turned away. Merritt also said he fields numerous requests from researchers inter- ested in the site. A 10-year project to scan about 20,000 documents discov- ered in the store has been completed — three years ahead of schedule, he said. Outside the store and interpretive center, Chel- sea Rose, an archaeologist from the Southern Oregon University Laboratory of Anthropology, who con- ducts digs at Chinese min- ing sites in the Malheur National Forest, led a crew in early October that used ground-penetrating radar to look for buried artifacts. The Portland Lee’s Association Dragon & Lion Dance Team performed during a celebratory dinner recognizing the 140th anniversary of the Kam Wah Chung business in John Day. Left to right, Eric Brand, a consultant on Chinese herbal medicine, and Beth Howlett, director of communications at the Oregon College of Oriental Medicine in Portland, discuss their roles during production of the Discovery Channel Asia fi lm about the Kam Wah Chung Co. in John Day. A man wakes up in the morning after sleeping on an ADVERTISED BED, in ADVERTISED PAJAMAS. Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative is seeking a Member Services Representative in Burns, OR. The MSR will greet customers and receive payments, assist customers with inquiries via phone or in person, and other clerical functions such as filing and typing. Visit any OTEC office for an application or apply online at careers.otec.coop. OTEC is an equal opportunity employer. Rate of pay: 16.93/hr. Position close date is Dec. 28th. 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