By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – Yakima County authorities are reaching out to the public in their search for a missing Pacific Crest Trail hiker, in case he has left the trail and doesn’t know people are looking for him.
Kris Fowler
Kris Fowler’s family began to get worried when they hadn’t heard from him and contacted sheriff’s office’s about a week and half ago. Deputies learned the Dayton, Ohio area man had last been seen at the Cracker Barrel store on U.S. Highway 12 near White Pass on Oct. 12 and was believed to have been continuing north.
Ground searches have been conducted with no luck.
“If someone saw him, gave him a ride, or knows someone who knows something, we need to hear about it,” Yakima County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Randy Briscoe said today.
The sheriff’s office has chased a few tips that are coming in and asked the Civil Air Patrol to fly from White Pass to the trail’s end, according to Briscoe. That should happen after the weather breaks a little, he said.
Briscoe indicated they are trying to get the word out far and wide, in case Fowler is in some other location and hasn’t heard about the search.
“The feeling is he is not on the trail, maybe,” Briscoe said today.
Fowler, who goes by the trail name Sherpa, began his trek in May. He is 6-foot 2-inches tall and 150 pounds, with blond hair and a modest beard.
Anyone who has seen him is asked to phone Yakima County Sheriff’s Office at 509-574-2535.
A Facebook page has been set up to share information about Fowler. It is called “Bring Kris Fowler/Sherpa Home
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For background, read “Pacific Crest Trail: Hiker from Ohio last seen near White Pass” from Tuesday November 1, 2016, here
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter