Still no sign of hiker missing since Friday in Cascades
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NORTH BEND, Wash. - Rescue crews planned to resume their search Monday for a Pierce County man who disappeared while on a solo day hike in the Cascade foothills outside North Bend on Friday.
About 50 to 60 volunteers and two helicopter crews spent most of Sunday looking for John Wright, 50, of University Place after a witness said he saw the missing hiker heading up a trail toward Green Mountain on Friday. Wright hasn't been seen since, despite two days of intensive searching in the area.
His wife, Virginia Wright, called police when he didn't come home from his hike on Friday. She realized he was missing when he didn't pick up their 10-year-old daughter after her day camp at 6 p.m. Friday - which was totally unlike him.
Searchers began combing the foothills Saturday morning after authorities picked up a ping on Wright's cell phone in the Cedar Falls watershed area off Interstate 90.
Wright's vehicle, a midnight blue Nissan Xterra SUV, was located at about 1 p.m. Saturday at a trailhead near the Middle Fork of the Snoqualmie River. Searchers broke out the windows so search dogs could pick up Wright's scent, but they were not able to locate him.
Cindi West of the King County Sheriff's Office said crews expanded their search Sunday after receiving a credible report from another hiker who crossed paths with Wright on Friday and talked to him for a few minutes.
That witness, who saw Wright before he was reported missing, said Wright told him he was headed for the Green Mountain area of the Snoqualmie National Forest via a trail that is considered very difficult to hike.
As a result of that sighting, searchers focused their efforts on the Green Mountain area.
"We're hoping he got stuck somewhere," West said. "He doesn't have cell phone coverage, and we hope we'll just find him, waiting to be rescued."
One theory is that Wright may have gotten stuck on a ledge he climbed and then could not get any farther up or back down. Others think he may be severely injured.
Wright's wife, a local veterinarian, is trying to remain optimistic and hope for the best.
She said her husband, an employee of the Tacoma Pierce County Health Department, is an experienced hiker who carries a headlamp, thermal blanket and extra food and water. But he doesn't carry an emergency beacon or GPS, she said.
She said the couple had planned to take an Argosy cruise to Blake Island on Saturday morning,
"I got home from work (Friday) and there was a receipt for the tickets," she said. "I have not heard from him since then."
About 50 to 60 volunteers and two helicopter crews spent most of Sunday looking for John Wright, 50, of University Place after a witness said he saw the missing hiker heading up a trail toward Green Mountain on Friday. Wright hasn't been seen since, despite two days of intensive searching in the area.
His wife, Virginia Wright, called police when he didn't come home from his hike on Friday. She realized he was missing when he didn't pick up their 10-year-old daughter after her day camp at 6 p.m. Friday - which was totally unlike him.
Searchers began combing the foothills Saturday morning after authorities picked up a ping on Wright's cell phone in the Cedar Falls watershed area off Interstate 90.
Wright's vehicle, a midnight blue Nissan Xterra SUV, was located at about 1 p.m. Saturday at a trailhead near the Middle Fork of the Snoqualmie River. Searchers broke out the windows so search dogs could pick up Wright's scent, but they were not able to locate him.
Cindi West of the King County Sheriff's Office said crews expanded their search Sunday after receiving a credible report from another hiker who crossed paths with Wright on Friday and talked to him for a few minutes.
That witness, who saw Wright before he was reported missing, said Wright told him he was headed for the Green Mountain area of the Snoqualmie National Forest via a trail that is considered very difficult to hike.
As a result of that sighting, searchers focused their efforts on the Green Mountain area.
"We're hoping he got stuck somewhere," West said. "He doesn't have cell phone coverage, and we hope we'll just find him, waiting to be rescued."
One theory is that Wright may have gotten stuck on a ledge he climbed and then could not get any farther up or back down. Others think he may be severely injured.
Wright's wife, a local veterinarian, is trying to remain optimistic and hope for the best.
She said her husband, an employee of the Tacoma Pierce County Health Department, is an experienced hiker who carries a headlamp, thermal blanket and extra food and water. But he doesn't carry an emergency beacon or GPS, she said.
She said the couple had planned to take an Argosy cruise to Blake Island on Saturday morning,
"I got home from work (Friday) and there was a receipt for the tickets," she said. "I have not heard from him since then."
