Loot the Deschutes
Divers return some lost items found in heavily used section of Central Oregon's Deschutes River.
1 of 14
Lled Smith of Loot the Deschutes surfaces at the Bend Whitewater Park with two pairs of sunglasses on Aug. 9, 2023. Not all his finds are benign: He was once shocked by an electrified underwater cable. He's also found guns, knives, and lots and lots of fish hooks.
Emily Cureton Cook / OPB
2 of 14
Bridget Evans, left, takes direction from Loot the Deschutes' Lled Smith, right, on how to don a snorkel and mask at the Bend Whitewater Park on Aug. 9, 2023.
Emily Cureton Cook / OPB
3 of 14
Lled Smith of Loot the Deschutes lays out the finds of the day at the Bend Whitewater Park on Aug. 9, 2023. He posts pictures like this on social media to try to reunite people with lost stuff.
Emily Cureton Cook / OPB
4 of 14
An eddy swirls a woman back into a rapid at the Bend Whitewater Park seconds before her tube flips over and dumps her in the water on Aug. 9, 2023.
Emily Cureton Cook / OPB
5 of 14
Bridget Evans glides around a popular take out for paddleboarders on the Deschutes River, hoping to find lost valuables. Aug. 9, 2023.
Emily Cureton Cook / OPB
6 of 14
Floaters about to collide at the Bend Whitewater Park on Aug. 9, 2023.
Emily Cureton Cook / OPB
7 of 14
Lled Smith holds up a gnome he found in the Deschutes River. It's part of a growing collection of oddities found by Loot the Deschutes' divers, and maintained by Miranda and Kea Eubank. Aug. 10, 2023.
Emily Cureton Cook / OPB
8 of 14
A drawer of lost cell phones at Kea and Miranda Eubank's backyard shed, which has become a grand scale curio cabinet for Loot the Deschutes' finds. Aug. 10, 2023.
Emily Cureton Cook / OPB
9 of 14
A bowling ball fashioned into an anchor, or perhaps just a ball and chain, are among the oddball finds of Loot the Deschutes divers like Lled Smith of Bend. Aug. 10, 2023.
Emily Cureton Cook / OPB
10 of 14
Lled Smith of Loot the Deschutes scoops up a pair of broken glasses as he heads in from surfing at the Bend Whitewater Park on Aug. 9, 2023.
Emily Cureton Cook / OPB
11 of 14
Lled Smith holds up a rusty crank found in the Deschutes River through Bend, part of a collection of historical objects pulled out by Loot the Deschutes divers. Aug. 10, 2023.
Emily Cureton Cook / OPB
12 of 14
Layla Yako, with Lled Smith, shows off the silver and turquoise ring that Smith recovered from the Deschutes River last summer. He found it within days of her losing it, but she didn't see the post on Instagram for nearly a year. Aug. 9, 2023.
Emily Cureton Cook / OPB
13 of 14
Lled Smith holds part of his collection of rings found in the Deschutes River. He keeps them bound on a wire so he won't lose any, and marks the ones that get returned with placeholders. Aug. 9, 2023.
Emily Cureton Cook / OPB
14 of 14
Loot the Deschutes' Lled Smith believes several diamond engagement rings he's found were intentionally discarded. One, which came out of the river missing a two-carat stone, matches the description a floater provided of the ring she jettisoned to mark her divorce. Two other rings were discovered with a rubber band attached, in what appears to be a makeshift slingshot. Aug. 10, 2023.
Emily Cureton Cook / OPB
