On the night of January 23, 2011, 43-year-old David Anthony Durham was stopped by a Lincoln City officer on Highway 101 near Lincoln City, Oregon. During the stop Durham, wearing camouflage clothing he had made, shot the officer multiple times, critically wounding him, then fled south in his pickup. A roughly 40-mile pursuit followed, during which Durham reportedly fired at passing motorists and patrol cars. Near Waldport his vehicle was disabled by a spike strip; he abandoned the truck, is believed to have pushed his dog Huckleberry from the vehicle before it crashed, and ran into the woods beside the highway. Two crab fishermen in Alsea Bay heard gunshots around that time but saw no one.

A large manhunt involving local, state and federal units, including SWAT and house-to-house searches in Waldport and Bayshore, failed to find him. Huckleberry was found injured but alive three days later in Waldport. Investigators have considered suicide, accidental drowning in Alsea Bay, hiding in vacant vacation homes, or escaping the search perimeter; a federal arrest warrant was issued and the case was publicized on America’s Most Wanted. No conclusive evidence of Durham’s whereabouts has been reported.