Jerry William McDonald made notes on a homemade calendar showing how many days he had been stranded and the weather conditions. (Provided by the Linn County Sheriff's Office) 
 
 Man stranded for more than two months chronicles days leading up to death 
 
 The body of a man found by forest service workers Thursday on a back road near Marion Forks is that of 68-yea-old Jerry William McDonald, the Linn County Sheriff's Office announced Friday. 
 
 An autopsy showed that McDonald's death was consistent with starvation and/or hypothermia. 
 
 McDonald was identified using fingerprints. 
 
 "It appears he was camping there to start with," said Sheriff Tim Mueller. McDonald was in a sleeping bag in the bed of a pickup. He had apparently become stuck in the snow in February on Forest Service Road 517, about three miles from Highway 22 and about four miles from Marion Forks. 
 
 McDonald scribbled short entries on a homemade calendar, noting the weather and the number of days he'd been there. He appears to have arrived on Feb. 7, and notes getting snowed in on Feb. 14. 
 
 He also wrote reminders to himself, such as "motor vehicle registration expires" on April 12 and "can camp at Powers for 20 d." on April 18. 
 
 The road out would have been impassable in snowy conditions, the sheriff said, and there was no sign McDonald tried to walk out. 
 
 His 1997 GMC pickup with canopy was driveable in Thursday's spring conditions, Mueller said. It had about a quarter of a tank of gas and tire chains on all four tires. 
 
 McDonald had apparently tried to create traction under the pickup with rocks. He also had a jack and apparently tried to use it. 
 
 The vehicle was registered to an address in Unity. Detectives said McDonald was transient. 
 
 According to the sheriff, he was prepared for the conditions. He was dressed appropriately and had extra fuel for the pickup. There was evidence he had built a small fire and was collecting water in buckets. 
 
 However, there was no food, GPS, cell phone or compass recovered at the scene. 
 
 More than $5,000 in cash was found in the pickup. 
 
 An entry on McDonald's calendar for March 2 reads "Trapped, snowed in on 14th." 
 
 He may have run out of food on March 16, where it reads "No Fo1" and is labeled day 38. The next day says "No Fo2," followed by "No F3" the day after that. 
 
 The last entry is on April 15. He wrote "rain" and labeled it 68. 
 
 Detectives say McDonald was estranged from his family. He has a son living in West Linn. The son told detectives he hadn't talked to his father in 30 years. 
 
 Nobody had reported him missing. 
 
 Foul play is not suspected. 

 POSTED: 1:19 pm PDT May 13, 2011 
 
 A Forest Service crew has found the body of a man who was stranded in the snow for almost 70 days. 
 
 On Thursday, Jerry McDonald's body was found in a sleeping bag in the back of a pickup truck with a canopy about 3 miles from Highway 22 and 4 miles from Marion Forks, says Linn County Sheriff Tim Mueller. 
 
 A homemade calendar found in the pickup shows McDonald arrived in the area on Feb. 7, likely to camp there, but he became snowed in -- possibly on Feb. 14. He used the calendar to record what he was doing and what the weather conditions were like. 
 
 His March 2 entry reads, "Trapped, snowed in on 14th." 
 
 His final entry was made on April 15 -- 68 days since his first entry. 
 
 McDonald, 68, was estranged from his family and was never reported missing, the sheriff says. 
 
 Photo courtesy of Linn County Sheriff's Office 
 
 McDonald's pickup was stuck in the snow and evidence suggests he tried to get it out by using a jack and placing rocks under the tires for traction, but was unsuccessful. 
 
 He built a small fire, collected water in buckets and had extra fuel for the pickup. He also had clothing appropriate for the cold weather. 
 
 Detectives didn't find any food or a GPS, cell phone or compass at the site. 
 
 Forest Service Road 517 -- which is where McDonald was found -- is in a mountainous area of east Linn County and would have been impassable once it snowed, Mueller says. There were no indications that McDonald had tried to walk out of the area. 
 
 Copyright 2011 by KPTV.com. All rights reserved. 
 
 This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. 
 
 An autopsy shows McDonald died of starvation and hypothermia, deputies say.
– A man was found dead in his pickup truck on an Oregon forest service road, after apparently being snowed in and surviving for 68 days. Jerry McDonald kept track of the days on a handmade calendar found in the truck, which notes that he arrived in the area Feb. 7 to camp and got snowed in on Feb. 14. His food may have run out on March 16, the Corvallis Gazette-Times reports, noting that he marked that day "No Fo1" and the next "No Fo2," etc. The last entry, April 15, simply says "rain" and is marked as day 68. McDonald, 68, died of starvation and hypothermia, KPTV reports. His body was found in a sleeping bag; he also had cold weather clothing and chains on his tires but no GPS, cell phone, or compass. It appears he tried to get out by using a jack and rocks under his tires for traction, but there is no indication he tried to walk out of the area. He also built a fire, collected water in buckets, and had extra fuel for his truck. McDonald, described as transient, was estranged from his family and never reported missing.