STEVENSON, Wash. (AP) — Teams are searching by foot and by snowmobile for a 37-year-old elk hunter reported overdue in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.
Skamania County Sheriff Dave Brown says the hunter, Joel Presler, of Vancouver, last had contact with his family on Saturday.
Authorities found his pickup truck on Wednesday on a Forest Service road in the Forlorn Lakes area. There’s about 2 feet of snow there, and there was no sign that Presler had been to the truck in the past couple of days.
Thursday’s forecast called for an additional 6 to 10 inches of snow.
Presler is reported to have been in good health and to have hunted in the area for years. Authorities don’t believe he would have hiked in and camped away from his truck.