Police were called to an Oregon landfill on Feb. 20 after the state’s former Gov. John Kitzhaber (D) and his fiancee were spotted there dumping trash amid a federal investigation surrounding his time in office, The Oregonian newspaper reported on Friday.
Kitzhaber and his fiancee, Cylvia Hayes, had rarely been seen in public since his resignation on Feb. 18 when the couple left Salem, Ore., the paper reported.
Both Kitzhaber and Hayes have been the subjects of a federal investigation, the Oregonian reported.
On Feb. 20, the couple was seen at the Knott Landfill near Bend, Ore. throwing away trash, the director of the Deschutes County Solid Waste Department told the Oregonian.
Due to a credit card processing error, the landfill’s system was reportedly locked and a supervisor was forced to reset it. However, during the incident, law enforcement officials were alerted and deputies from the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office arrived at the landfill, the paper reported.
According to the Oregonian, deputies sorted through the couple’s trash, but the director of the landfill couldn’t tell the paper whether they’d confiscated anything. The director, Timm Schimke, told the paper he’d seen surveillance of the dumping.
“I’ve seen the videotape,” Schimke said. “They just came in and dumped garbage and left.”
The Oregonian said the sheriff’s office could not be reached for comment.
