Two men from Portland, Oregon, who went into the Washington state wilderness to search for Sasquatch, were found dead on Christmas Eve after failing to return home, police said.
The Skamania County Sheriff's Office (SCSO) said in a statement Saturday that a 59-year-old man and a 37-year-old man were reported missing by their families early Christmas morning.
Three-day Christmas search and rescue mission ends in tragedy December 28, 2024 – Two Portland men lose their lives.
Posted by Skamania County Sheriff's Office above Saturday, December 28, 2024
Relatives reported the two were “looking for Sasquatch,” according to SCSO.
A “swarm camera,” also known as a license plate reader, captured the vehicle the men were in as it traveled into the woods in eastern Skamania County, where search and rescue officials found it abandoned off Oklahoma Road near Willard. I discovered it. , Washington.
The three-day search involved more than 60 volunteers, dogs and drones.
Police said the U.S. Coast Guard also provided “aviation assets” based in Astoria, Oregon, to assist in the search for the two missing men.
After a “demanding” search effort due to “difficult terrain and severe weather conditions,” the sheriff's office said it found two bodies in a “wooded area” in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. .
“Due to the weather conditions and lack of preparation, both deaths appear to have been caused by radiation exposure,” police said, thanking the dozens of volunteers who worked in the search over the Christmas period.
SCSO added in a statement: “The Skamania County Sheriff's Office extends its deepest sympathies and condolences to the family of the loved one lost in this tragic incident.”
Sasquatch sightings are so popular in Skamania County that the area's chamber of commerce has the following information posted on its website: page Dedicated to it:
In the late 1960s, there were so many reported sightings of Sasquatch, Bigfoot, Yeti, or Giant Hairy Ape in Skamania County, Washington, that the county commission decided to protect this elusive creature and create a Bigfoot quest. It was decided that it was necessary to enact an ordinance to retain people. A bearded elk hunter was shot and killed while roaming the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. The law was originally passed in 1969 and amended in 1984, and now harming a Sasquatch within Skamania County boundaries can result in a year in prison or a $1,000 fine. Stop by the chamber visitor center to pick up a Bigfoot postcard with the ordinance printed on it.
The identity of the man whose body was recovered has not been released.
