Tillamook County Deputies assistied the Washington County Sheriff’s Office in a search for an overdue vehicle that was reported to Washington County around midnight on March 6th.  It was reported that a male and female in their 20s, and their 5yo daughter, all from the Forest Grove area, and a 19 yo male, a 14 yo male from the Gaston area, were last spoken to at around 11am March 5^th when they said they were going to Browns Camp to do some target shooting and would be back around 9pm.  When they had not returned by midnight family members notified the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.

The cellphone company have pinged their phone and what they received put them in the Gales Creek area at about 2pm yesterday.  They have not received any updates since that time. Washington County searched a large area on their side up to the Tillamook County line while Tillamook County personnel search the large area up to the Washington County line.  The heavy and deep snowfall and the periods of near whiteout conditions are making the search and travel difficult. The 5 were reported to be in a dark grey Chevy Suburban.

The missing subjects, who had indicated to their relatives that they were going toward Brown’s Camp, ended up atop Diamond Mill stuck in the snow.  Search and Rescue personnel advised the snow through the search area was anywhere from 1 to 3’ and there were several times that the searchers themselves were stuck in the snow during the search.

At some point during the day on March 6, the subject’s Suburban was freed with the assistance of some loggers, a Facebook post from one of the subjects said it was individuals from Vandehey Logging.  The subjects were then able to continue down to the Diamond Mill OHV Staging Area where some of their family members happened to be staged.  They all then proceeded to the SAR Command area that was staged at the Sand Shed off Hwy 6, arriving at approximately 2:18pm. All subjects were in good health. Participating in the search was Tillamook County Sheriff’s Office, Tillamook Search and Rescue personnel, Washington County Sheriff’s Office, Oregon State Police, and Oregon Department of Forestry.