STEVENSON, Wash. - Skamania County Undersheriff Dave Cox says a multi-day search for a Portland hiker missing near Bonneville Dam has been suspended.
Cox made the announcement late Wednesday afternoon after about 45 ground searchers, two dog teams, two horse teams and a Coast Guard helicopter had searched through another day. Cox says Wednesday's effort was designed to ensure that probable areas as well as some spots outside the main search area were covered.
Sgt. Jay Johnston says the sheriff's office will continue to evaluate any new information on the disappearance of 24-year-old Kathrine Huether. She texted a friend last Thursday to say she was at a trailhead. The only clue was found last Sunday, a credit card receipt with her name located on a trail off the Pacific Crest Trail about 4 miles north of North Bonneville, Wash.
Searchers had canvassed 98 percent of the area in which they believed Katherine Heuther might be located, but with no luck.
On Tuesday, Huether's father, Bob Huether, flew in from the East Coast to help the search for his daughter.
"It really comes home how rugged and how difficult this is," Bob Huether said Tuesday , after flying in from New Jersey. "We are still holding out hope that Kate will come back to us alive and we'll be able to hold her and talk to her again... and tell her how much we love her."
Heuther's car was found early Friday morning at the Columbia Crest Trailhead, near the Bonneville Dam. No missing person report had yet been filed.
Table Mountain offers a popular, easily accessible day trip for Columbia Gorge hikers.
A suspect was reportedly flashing others on the Pacific Crest Trail the same day she was thought to have headed there for a day hike, Skamania County officials reported Tuesday. It was one of "many leads" that investigators were considering.
