Transient found dead at camp

Found dead was Donald Vernon Delavergne, 69, who went by the name Donald Wonder, Raiser said.

Wonder lived west of the Discovery Center, between Interstate 84 and the railroad tracks. His camp, which included a tent, camp chairs and the like, was down a steep embankment from the interstate, Raiser said.

“There’s no suspicious circumstances surrounding his passing at this point,” said Raiser. He said an autopsy would be conducted and the Wasco County medical examiner would determine a cause of death.

Just last week a Wasco County sheriff’s deputy had gone to check on Wonder due to concerns about his health, Raiser said. “We were concerned about his health because his health had been doing downhill for a little bit.”

Raiser said the Good Samaritan had met Wonder by happenstance and started to help him out by buying him groceries, offering him some money and helping him sign up for Social Security.

“There are still some good people out in the world,” Raiser said.

In fact, the Good Samaritan had taken Wonder to buy groceries just yesterday, and went out there this morning to take him to an appointment, and that’s when he found him deceased, Raiser said.

Wonder was known for walking along the interstate, and his few contacts with police were either welfare checks on him, or responding to calls from citizens who reported seeing him attempting to cross the freeway, Raiser said.

“He had a bunch of cats he’d care for. He was actually a fairly well known transient,” Raiser said.

A transient was found dead in bushes across from Denny’s earlier this year, and another transient died by Memaloose a few years ago.