Son breaks silence after his missing mom, 69, who set off on 230-mile journey to visit her friend is found dead

A grieving son has accused Oregon authorities of “failing to give up” after it took them nearly two months to find his mother dead in the wreckage of her car.

Kathleen Wilson was last seen alive on August 5 after making a 370-mile trip to visit a friend in Chiloquin and spending a night at an RV park in Myrtle Creek.

As the days passed, Myrtle Creek police said the 69-year-old widow had disappeared into the “vast wilderness off 138 East” (sic).

It was September 25 before she was found dead in her maroon 2012 Chevy Cruz near mile marker 53, just six miles from where she was last seen.

“She was about 15 feet off the road,” son Darreld Carey told DailyMail.com.

The grandmother was captured on camera at a gas station in one of the last sightings

The grandmother from McMinnville had left the RV park at 6 a.m. on August 5 to drive the last 140 miles to Chiloquin.

At 7:34 a.m., she was seen driving through the Dry Creek area on Highway 138 East, about six miles from where her car was ultimately recovered.

The alarm was raised when she failed to show up at her destination that evening and Myrtle Creek police began their search.

Within days, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, Oregon State Police, Forest Service Law Enforcement and local fire crews were involved in an “extensive search” for the missing woman.

On August 8, Oregon State Police brought in a plane to assist in the search, but the effort was quickly abandoned.

“Unfortunately, they were unable to continue the search as the smoke from the fires was thick and at a low altitude,” MCPD said later that day.

Carey said there was no reason not to resume the aerial search when the skies cleared.

“Maybe at first, but I honestly don’t think they cared,” he added.

“My niece is there and she says there was a clear blue sky. She was literally six miles from where she was last seen on camera.”

“At this point in the investigation, it has been determined that it is more likely than not that Wilson left the North Umpqua Highway from Roseburg and became lost somewhere in the vast wilderness off 138 East,” Myrtle Creek police wrote on August 13.

“We want to make sure we’re clear; This case is not closed and the investigation is ongoing. This case will not be closed until Wilson is found.”

The McMinnville widow was seen driving through the Dry Creek area on Highway 138 East, about six miles from where her car was ultimately recovered.

The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, Oregon State Police, Forest Service Law Enforcement and local fire crews were involved in an ‘extensive search’ for her red Chevy

It wasn’t until 9:27 a.m. Wednesday that an Oregon Department of Transportation employee working on Highway 138 East near milepost 53 spotted the remains of the car along a “steep embankment.”

Twenty-eight days after the grandmother disappeared, he wrote, “We will contact the Oregon State Police this week for an update on the likelihood that an air search could be productive.”

It wasn’t until 9:27 a.m. Wednesday that an Oregon Department of Transportation employee working on Highway 138 East, near mile marker 53, saw the remains of the car along a “steep embankment.”

“The vehicle was in a location that was not visible to people driving by,” Myrtle police insisted.

“Preliminary information at the scene indicates that Wilson was driving eastbound on Highway 138 East when, for an unknown reason, her vehicle crossed the roadway and went over a steep embankment on the other side of the highway.

“The Douglas County Medical Examiner’s Office responded and took possession of the body.”

Carey said his brother David arrived on the scene and discovered that their mother had survived the crash and had unfastened her seat belt in an attempt to get out.

“The day she went missing, I wanted to go over and look for her and was told there was no need, they would take care of it,” he added.

“I truly believe that if I had ignored them, Mother would still be alive today.”