Rescuers search for missing hiker in Oregon river canyon — then learn he’s at home
Rescuers set out to find a missing hiker in a popular Oregon river canyon, then learned he had been safe at home the entire time, deputies said.
The 48-year-old was hiking with a group Saturday, June 1, on the Oneonta Trail in the Columbia River Gorge, the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
At about 2 p.m., he separated from the rest of the hikers and didn’t tell anyone he was going home, deputies said.
One of the hikers reported him missing at about 6 p.m.
Rescuers said they tried to call and text him but couldn’t reach him. They also tried to ping his phone’s location but were “unsuccessful.”
Rescuers then sent 20 people into the wilderness to search for the man, deputies said.
Before 11 p.m., rescuers said they got word he was safe at his home in Vancouver, Washington, and they ended search efforts.
The Oneonta Trail is a popular day hike that takes visitors past waterfalls and has “steep creek-weathered basalt cliffs,” according to the U.S. Forest Service.
It’s also near where a 22-year-old hiker fell 60 feet to her death on May 19, McClatchy News reported.
The Columbia River Gorge is a “spectacular river canyon” that runs 80 miles long and is 4,000 feet deep, according to forest officials. It divides Oregon and Washington.
