Search continues for missing Nimitz sailor

Search efforts are still underway for a missing sailor assigned to the Bremerton-based aircraft carrier USS Nimitz, who was last known to be hiking in the Olympic National Forest almost a week ago.

Nuclear Electrician's Mate Second Class Jeremiah Adams, 24, was reported missing Monday morning after he didn't show up for work.

Rescue efforts resumed around 8 a.m. Thursday in the national forest's Buckhorn Wilderness, which is the primary search area, although heavy rains and fog have settled over the mountains.

Adams was last seen Friday, before he left for a day hike on the Olympic Peninsula. He did not specify to friends which trail he planned to hike, but reportedly told them it would take him about an hour and a half drive to get to the trailhead.

Clallam County Sheriff's Office Chief Criminal Deputy Brian King said Adam's cell phone data from last Friday indicates he traveled up to the Lower Greywolf trailhead before his phone stopped communicating with towers in that area around 9 a.m. It hasn't transmitted any data since.

Adams' vehicle, a silver 2013 Ford Fiesta, was found Monday parked at that trailhead, which is south of Blyn, near Sequim in Clallam County.

Authorities have posted fliers with Adams' picture and description along the trails and trailheads in the Buckhorn Wilderness and arterial trails from the Olympic National Park that lead into the area. Thus far, King said they have not received any tips from hikers who have seen him.

Authorities have "checked and doubled checked" those trails, but have not yet recovered any conclusive clues, such as clothing, equipment or footprints, that could point to his whereabouts, King said.

"The weekend he went missing, there were other hikers in and around those areas," King said. "There's always a lot of foot traffic on several of those trails and so that makes it difficult to say hey this is his foot print, with all of the traffic."

King estimated anywhere from 75 to 100 people have assisted the Clallam County Sheriff's Office each day to help locate Adams, including Nimitz sailors, Kitsap County Search and Rescue, Mason County Search and Rescue, helicopters from Naval Air Station Whidbey Island Search and Rescue and Olympic Mountain Rescue.

"We're continuing to really try to check some of those low probability, but extremely technical search sites that need people with that special training to check them," King said.

If today's search efforts are unsuccessful, King said the agencies would reconvene tomorrow to determine what will be their next steps to locate Adams.

Adams is a white man, 5' 10" tall, approximately 150 pounds, with blue eyes and blonde hair.

Anyone with information about Adams' whereabouts should call the Clallam County Sheriff's Office at (360)-417-2459.