2 Portland Men Searching For Sasquatch Found Dead After Failing To Return Home On Christmas Eve

Two Oregon men are dead after a Christmas week trip into a rural Washington county in search of Sasquatch turned tragic.

Days before Christmas, a 59-year-old man and a 37-year-old man ventured out from their hometown of Portland, Oregon into rural Skamania County in southern Washington. That county, according to Bigfoot experts, is one of the world’s most active regions of ‘squatch sightings. The men intended to look for the cryptid, and then be back home on Christmas Eve. But when they didn’t return as scheduled, family members grew concerned.

According to Fox News, at 1:00 a.m. local time on Christmas morning, the men’s family members called the Skamania County Sheriff’s Office and reported that the men had not returned home as planned. Per a press release later shared by the law enforcement agency, investigators used a license plate reader known as a “flock camera” to track the duo’s abandoned vehicle to a rural road outside the tiny town of Willard, Washington.

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For the next three days, beginning on Christmas, more than 60 volunteers took part in a massive search and rescue operation in the rural county. Search teams covered ground across large swathes of the 1.4-million acre Gifford Pinchot National Forest with help from trained canine units, drones, and air support efforts from the US Coast Guard.

Sadly, the search ended in tragedy. After three full days of searching, the Skamania County Sheriff’s Office announced on Saturday that they had found the bodies of both men. Revealing the terrible news on Facebook, the sheriff’s office wrote:

“After a grueling, three-day search over difficult terrain and harsh weather conditions, the 59-year-old male and 37-year-old-male, both from Portland, Oregon, who were reported missing/endangered were located, deceased, in a heavily wooded area of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. Both deaths appear to be due to exposure, based on weather conditions and ill-preparedness.”

So awful.

As of this writing, the men’s names have not been released to the public. The sheriff’s office went on to thank the five dozen-plus volunteers who put their own lives in danger and “sacrificed time away from their families during Christmas” to take part in the search and rescue mission:

“These phenomenal volunteers also fought through freezing temperatures, snow, high water levels, heavy rain, downfall, and heavily wooded terrain. Their exhaustive search efforts resulted in bringing family members home to their loved ones. The Skamania County Sheriff’s Office extends our deepest sympathies and condolences to the families of the loved ones lost in this tragic incident.”

You can see more coverage on this terrible story (below):

We send our condolences out to family members, friends, and loved ones of the two men who perished.

[Image via Skamania County Sheriff’s Office]