Statesman Journal

A 75-year-old hiker from Blachly is missing near Marion Lake, and search groups are looking for him both on the ground and from the air.

Linn County Undersheriff Jim Yon says the sheriff's office got a call Friday at 1:40 pm about a Sanford David Rice, 75, in the Marion Lakes area off HIghway 22. The caller reported Rice went for a day hike in the area and did not return home.



The sheriff's office sent deputies to the Marion Lake trailhead to look for him. They were able to locate his vehicle and entry receipts indicating he was doing a day hike. Deputies spoke with several hikers in the area and learned Rice had been last seen near Marion Lake.



Crews searched the area all night. In the morning, six members from the Linn County Mounted Posse responded to the area and joined the search. Linn County SAR has 12 members searching the area on foot. Oregon Civil Air Patrol joined the search this morning and was conducting an air search.



The Sheriff's Office is requesting assistance from other SAR groups from around the region to continue the search.

The U.S. Air Force Rescue and Recovery Center has dispatched the Oregon Civil Air Patrol to assist Linn County Sheriff's Office in searching for a missing man.



CAP was performing a training day Saturday, so it has diverted three aircraft from training tasks to join the search. Two will fly search patterns while the third aircraft will perform a "high bird" function, flying at a higher elevation and relaying radio communications between the search aircraft and the CAP base at Aurora State Airport.



"We are happy to divert our aircrews and aircraft to support Sheriff Riley," said Lt. Col. Ira Rosenberg, who is the Incident Commander. "Performing this search will help us keep our skills sharp even better than our practice missions would have. We are able to respond very rapidly since we had aircraft fueled and ready, and our personnel had already gathered."



