A rafter missing for four days on a remote stretch of the Illinois River in the Kalmiopsis Wilderness was found alive Friday morning and airlifted to safety.

Gabriel J. Vaughn, 25, was found 2 miles downstream from where he was last seen Monday near a Class V rapid known as the Green Wall, Josephine County Sheriff Dave Daniel said.

Daniel said Vaughn was suffering from hypothermia and frostbite-like injuries to his extremities before a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter operating out of North Bend airlifted him Friday afternoon for treatment at Bay Area Hospital in Coos Bay.

“Hypothermia and cold damage to his fingers and toes,” Daniel said, adding, “He was successfully flown out and is now at the hospital.”

Vaughn was reported missing Monday after he left a rafting team that was running the Illinois River in the Kalmiopsis Wilderness west of Grants Pass. He was wearing a drysuit and was said to be last seen climbing out of the river and hiking in the direction of the Chetco drainage.

The river courses through a 4,000-foot deep canyon in the Kalmiopsis and is a stern rafting challenge not only for its whitewater but also for its remoteness and lack of accessibility.

With authorities in Josephine and Curry counties unable to mount a serious rescue in the remote canyon due to resource deficits, Daniel said a private party of expert rafters that included Vaughn’s brother launched a search on Wednesday.

He said the rescue party found Vaughn’s oar but otherwise met with no success on Wednesday or Thursday.

The rescue team was on its way out this morning when it encountered Vaughn on the riverbank about 2 miles downstream from where he was last seen, Daniel said.

A call was made to the Coast Guard, which was able to send in a helicopter to fly Vaughn out, Daniel said. Earlier in the week, a winter storm that socked the region with snow ruled out help from the air.

As for why Vaughn went missing, Daniel said authorities are still trying to piece together what happened.

He said communication with Vaughn’s original rafting team was limited to satellite texts but that authorities in Coos County are planning to interview Vaughn for an explanation.

Vaughn’s parents flew in from Tennessee and were said to be on their way to Coos Bay from Gold Beach, where they were staying during the rescue operation. Vaughn’s brother accompanied Vaughn on the airlift to the hospital, Daniel said.

Daniel said he did not want to speculate about Vaughn’s motivation, but added regarding speculation on social media that Vaughn may have skipped the Class V Green Wall rapid out of safety concerns, “I don’t think that’s the case.”