UMATILLA COUNTY, Ore.-Search and Rescue operations are currently underway for a Stanfield man who went missing while hunting mushrooms.
The Umatilla County Sheriff’s Office (UCSO) is leading the multi-agency operation to search for the man, identified as 69-year-old Mickey Dean Cearns.
According to his family, Cearns was last seen in the area just north of the Mt. Emily Snow Park, off National Forest Road 3102 during a mushroom hunting trip.
Cearns’ family reported him missing around 2:20 p.m., and Umatilla County Search and Rescue Team was activated and conducted ground searches and deployed drone flights to survey the area, and a K-9 search and rescue team was also deployed.
Cearns is described as 6’0”, 220 lbs., is bald, and was last seen wearing a white t-shirt, multi-colored (tie-dye style) shorts, and red walking shoes.
“The terrain is especially challenging due to dense vegetation and some steep areas”, said Sgt Rowen Hayes, Umatilla County Search and Rescue coordinator.
SAR teams from Baker and Union Counties also assisted in the search and Life Flight Network provided air support on the morning of May 4, according to the UCSO.
An Incident Management Team and searchers from Wallowa County SAR were called in to assume command later in the day on May 4 and another K-9 search team was brought in to the operation to allow Umatilla County SAR and other teams to prepare to continue searching on May 5.
The UCSO is asking that members of the public avoid the search area on NF-3102 to ensure that air assets and tracking teams can operate without interference.
Baker County Search and Rescue, Union County Search and Rescue, Grant County Search and Rescue, Wallowa County Search and Rescue, Life Flight Network, and National Forest Service Law Enforcement are all assisting UCSO in the search and rescue operation.
