William “Bill” Osborne celebrated his 80th birthday with family in February at his home in Morton. / Courtesy photo
Updated at 3 p.m.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
The truck belonging to 80-year-old Morton resident William H. Osborne III was found yesterday evening some 600 feet down an embankment off Forest Service Road 26 south of Randle, according to his family.
He didn’t survive.
Dozens of family, friends and law enforcement officers have been combing the roadways of East Lewis County after Osborne was reported missing on Tuesday.
“This is what we were expecting all week, that when he was found he would be gone,” his niece Sharon Hopf of Orting said this morning. “But it’s still not easy.”
Osborne had breakfast with a friend on Monday morning, purchased his deer and elk tag in Morton at mid-day and apparently didn’t return home that night, according to law enforcement.
His son Bill arrived in town on Tuesday for a planned hunting outing and reported him missing. The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office said he told his friend he would be going hunting at Ryan Lake which is off Forest Service Road 26 south of East Lewis County in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.
“They think he was headed there, that’s what they think,” one of Osborne’s five daughters said today. “I don’t think he was going hunting, he didn’t have his rifle. I think he was going scouting.”
The daughter Meloney Olds stayed at his home in Morton this morning while her brother and two of her sisters met with authorities to recover Osborne’s body.
Olds said as many as 30 to 40 people off and on all week have been at the home, a base for search parties.
The son of Cody’s restaurant owner discovered some tire tracks yesterday, she said. “One of our search groups from I-90 Motorsports climbed down,” she said.
They’re assuming it happened quick, which is some comfort, she said.
The New Jersey born man lived near Renton where he retired from the phone company, then moved to Morton in the mid-1990s, according to his family. He has six children, 14 grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren, Olds said.
She said her family wanted to make sure everyone understood how grateful they are for looking for their dad.
“He had a friend named Curt, Curt probably put 1,000 miles on his truck this week,” he said.
While Lewis County Search and Rescue never did launch a search mission, Deputy Tim English and a deputy from Skamania County helped organize the family and friends who volunteered to search, she said.
“It’s amazing, the amount of people that came out looking for him,” she said.
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For background, read “Be on the lookout: Missing silver pickup, and its elderly driver” from Thursday November 1, 2012, here
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
Thank you for the kind words DCE. While it is out of form for you, its much appreciated.
Thank you all for your kind words.. Our family will miss him, but he is with his wife, his parents, my grandparents, aunt, and my dad.. We love you uncle Bill.
R.I.P. William “Bill” Osborne.
You died a true hero, doing what you loved to do and without hurting people.
God bless you.
Sad story. My condolences to his friends & family.
God Bless this man and his family. Let’s hope and pray he passed enjoying hunting one last time….