Found Safe WA - Matthew Matheny, 40, Blue Lake Trail/Mt. St. Helens, Cowlitz County, 9 Aug 2018

[cybervampira]

Cowlitz County News

Cougar, Wash - The Cowlitz County Sheriff's Office is about 24 hours in to the search for a man missing on the Blue Lake Trail off of Forrest Road 81 near Mt. St. Helens. They are asking anyone who hiked the Blue Lake trail since last Thursday to call the Cowlitz County Sheriff's Office at 360-577-3092.

Missing person is Matthew B. Matheny 40 years of age of Warren, Ohio. He was last seen at about 0700 hours of 8-9-2018 when he left to go to Mt St Helens, driving a local friend’s gray Subaru Outback.

On 8-11-2018 Skamania County Dep. Barker located the Subaru Outback at the Blue Lake Trailhead in Cowlitz County. The vehicle was unoccupied.

Cowlitz County Search and Rescue responded with ground search teams and Unmanned Aerial Surveillance operators. The mission is ongoing.

Cowlitz County Search and Rescue

Sheriff's deputies search for man missing near Mount St. Helens

 

[cybervampira]

Ohio man missing near Mount St. Helens

Matheny is a white man, 6-foot-4, 230 pounds with brown hair and blue eyes. He may be wearing a gray Cleveland Browns sweatshirt, shorts and sandals.

 

[swanniee11]

a FB setup for missing hikers.Michaela Davis

 

[cybervampira]

Cowlitz County Public Safety Feed Live

 

[thesaint]

Another solo day hiker missing in the PacNW. Samantha Sayers still not located:

WA - WA - Samantha Sayers, 28, Vesper Peak, North Cascades, 1 August 2018

"Matt is an experienced hiker but is not from this area and is believed to be wearing shorts and flipflops"

Hmm, how much of a hike was he expecting to do in shower shoes? Wonder if he went there for something else besides hiking up the mountain,

"Missing person is Matthew B. Matheny 40 years of age of Warren, Ohio. He was last seen at about 0700 hours of 8-9-2018 when he left to go to Mt St Helens, driving a local friend’s gray Subaru Outback."

Somehow I didn't think a guy who looks like he could play linebacker for the Cleveland Browns would be tooling around the country in a Subaru.

Hopefully they find both Mt St Helen Matt and Vesper Mtn Samantha.

 

[LotsaLatte]

Thank you for posting this - it's just starting to show up "locally" in facebook shares, etc. I hope he is found safe and sound. There are so many cell dead spots around that area so even if he had a phone with him, he probably didn't have any service. We have a lot of cougars and some bears in the area but I don't see that being the most likely cause of his not leaving the area. Maybe a medical issue or he got lost (off trail)? I wonder if he was just planning on driving around a little based on his footwear and only doing a little exploring. I mean as opposed to taking a hike. It's a beautiful area but if he is really only wearing flip flops, I don't feel like he was planning a big hike or anything. I could see him slipping in flip flops though!

 

[JDough]

This is a beautiful area. Although it's been a few years, I have hiked the trails around the mountain numerous times; never in flip-flops, though.

I am wondering if he was taking photos/sightseeing, and wandered a little further away from his vehicle than he anticipated? Everything can look the same after a while, and one can be "lost" fairly quickly on some of these trails if you are not familiar with them.

Hoping for the best.

 

[JDough]

Interactive map of the trail.

Sheep Canyon, Blue Lake Hike

 

[PaulR]

Somehow I didn't think a guy who looks like he could play linebacker for the Cleveland Browns would be tooling around the country in a Subaru.

This is Subaru country.

 

[LotsaLatte]

PaulR is right - there are tons of Subarus in the Portland metro area lol

 

[Detectivediva]

The last time I heard of someone going hiking in flip-flops was this case...

Found Deceased - CA - Jennifer Kinsella-Grindle, 41, Murrietta, 28 Aug 2017

Seemed like the perfect soccer mom until the tox came out. Hopefully this case won't turn out the same.

 

[JerseyGirl]

Authorities search for missing Ohio man near Mount St. Helens

 

[cybervampira]

Search continues with no sign of missing Ohio man near Mount St. Helens

The area has been searched thoroughly since Saturday, according to deputies, but there has been no sign of Matheny.

A detective assigned to the case has talked with many people who were up in that area during the time Matheny went missing, and investigators said there is nothing to suggest foul play in this case.

Matheny’s family told FOX 12 he is a nurse with medical training, but he is not an experienced hiker.

 

[cybervampira]

Search continues for Ohio man missing near Mt. St. Helens

"We feel encouraged that if he is up in the woods and lost or injured that he's alive. We are pushing really hard to try and locate him. There is a team of at least 40 people actively searching the area," Deputy Charlie Rosenzweig told ABC News.

 

[thesaint]

if i understand the timeline correctly:


Matthew leaves his Subaru-owning friend's place at 7 AM on Thursday, August 9th in his friend's Subaru. He says he's going to day hike Mt St Helen.

When Matthew doesn't return the same day as promised, his friend files a missing person report 2 days later, on the 11th. The police then launch a search for Matthew and the Subaru, finding the latter at the Blue Lake trailhead parking lot.

Why didn't the friend whose car Matthew took check out the parking area when Matthew didn't return the same day he left. Or did they and the car wasn't there.

It's possible Matthew was never on the mountain and someone else parked his car in that lot. The road you take to get to it is a logging road that dead ends into that parking lot. Good place to leave a car or for other nefarious activities.

 

[LotsaLatte]

Search continues with no sign of missing Ohio man near Mount St. Helens

Wait. Didn't I read that he was "an avid" hiker? I will have to go back and look again. His family says he is NOT an experienced hiker.

 

[LotsaLatte]

if i understand the timeline correctly:


Matthew leaves his Subaru-owning friend's place at 7 AM on Thursday, August 9th in his friend's Subaru. He says he's going to day hike Mt St Helen.

When Matthew doesn't return the same day as promised, his friend files a missing person report 2 days later, on the 11th. The police then launch a search for Matthew and the Subaru, finding the latter at the Blue Lake trailhead parking lot.

Why didn't the friend whose car Matthew took check out the parking area when Matthew didn't return the same day he left. Or did they and the car wasn't there.

It's possible Matthew was never on the mountain and someone else parked his car in that lot. The road you take to get to it is a logging road that dead ends into that parking lot. Good place to leave a car or for other nefarious activities.

I am thinking the friend didn't know where Matthew was going exactly. There are so so so many places to explore around Mt. St. Helens. And if it was dark, there are so many winding roads, logging roads, etc. it would be really difficult to cover it all and see if it was dark. Miles and miles and miles of fabulous Northwest beauty! And very limited cell service here and there. It is beautiful but there is no way I would hike far around the area without proper shoes, water, food, etc. and even bear spray if I were going too far from my vehicle. I hope he is found safe but am wondering if he had a medical issue. I feel terrible for his family and friends.

 

[GraceG]

The Blue Lake Trailhead would be difficult to hike in flip flops - it's considered "moderate in difficulty". That being said, the Forest Service marked it as inaccessible on August 1, due to the trail being inaccessible due to a deteriorating road bed and an active slide on Forest Road 90, which closed off 4 miles of Forest Road 90 between Forest Road 90-3211 and Crab Creek. That could have meant he headed out on one of the logging roads or other areas to sightsee.

Blue Lake — Washington Trails Association

 

[cybervampira]

New leads in search for missing Ohio man near Mt. St. Helens, 'giving searchers hope'

Based on Matheny’s cell phone records, he was several miles up towards Mount St. Helens along the Blue Lake Trail. Deputies said they found the Subaru at the Blue Lake Trailhead on Saturday.

 

[Michellesv44]

He was found alive!Ohio man found alive after being missing nearly a week on Mt. St. Helens