By Shari Phiel
The Columbian
SKAMANIA COUNTY, Wash. 鈥� Skamania County鈥檚 search and rescue team was hit by thieves over the weekend, just as the team was ending its search for two Oregon men who disappeared in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest while on a Sasquatch hunt.
The thieves targeted the search and rescue team鈥檚 storage yard, cutting through a 10-foot barbed wire fence and making off with thousands of dollars worth of equipment, according to the Skamania County Sheriff鈥檚 Office.
The list of stolen items includes an automated external defibrillator, generators, custom wilderness medical kits, first responder equipment needed for technical rope rescues, hypothermia rescue kits, equipment for transporting patients in a litter, and other tools and equipment.
A has been created in hopes of replacing the stolen items.
鈥淭his expensive first responder equipment isn鈥檛 just 鈥榞ear鈥� 鈥� it鈥檚 what enables us to save lives. Without it, we risk being unable to respond to emergencies like stranded hikers, river rescues, or fallen climbers,鈥� organizer Donna Wells said on the page.
The effort to replace the stolen equipment has raised almost $17,000 of its $18,000 goal.
In just the past two months, the Skamania County search and rescue team has been called to seven missions. With this latest effort, which had more than 60 volunteers from multiple agencies, including the U.S. Coast Guard, the team spent three days searching for the two missing men before finding their bodies in a heavily wooded area of the forest.
The two men, ages 50 and 37, were reported missing after failing to return home Christmas Eve. Authorities believe exposure to harsh weather and possibly a lack of adequate preparation contributed to their deaths.
Anyone with information about the theft is asked to contact the Skamania County Sheriff鈥檚 Office at 509-427-9490 and reference case No. 24-09035.
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