Searchers find missing Eugene woman in Hosmer Lake area

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – A  68-year-old Eugene woman who left a campsite on the shores of Hosmer Lake, west of Bend but failed to return prompted a search effort that located her three miles away late Friday night, Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies said.

The sheriff’s office was dispatched just before 8 p.m. to the reported missing woman near Mallard Marsh Campground, east of the Cascade Lakes Highway and southwest of Mt. Bachelor, according to Deputy Kyle Joye, assistant Search and Rescue coordinator.

The woman had been missing at that time for more than three hours and had medical conditions that prompted concern.

Initial reports were that the woman was at her campsite and left on foot around 4 p.m. without telling anyone, Joye said. Family learned she was missing a short time later and began a search that proved unsuccessful.

The family notified the camp host, who began to search surrounding roads. With darkness approaching, the camp host and family called 911.

A total of 17 SAR volunteers, two SAR tracking K-9 teams and a Special Service deputy responded to the area, along with a U.S. Forest Service Law Enforcement officer, Joye said.

A ground search got underway, while the Forest Service Law Enforcement officer drove surrounding roads to look for her. Joye said it was about 53 degrees and lightly raining at the time of the search,

Around 11:35 p.m., the USFS Law Enforcement officer found the woman in the middle of the Cascade Lakes Highway (state Highway 372), around milepost 36, Joye said. That was about three miles in a straight line from where the woman was last seen.

Standish, described as confused but in otherwise good condition, was cared for and evaluated by SAR medical personnel, then returned to her campsite.

Joye said the sheriff’s office wanted to thank the Forest Service for their valuable assistance in the search.