Searchers look for lost hiker overnight in Tumalo Falls area; turns up OK, had sheltered overnight

TUMALO, Ore. (KTVZ) – Deschutes County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue volunteers searched for a missing hiker on trails near Tumalo Falls overnight and Tuesday morning before another hiker found the man, who told searchers he’d lost his way and sheltered in place overnight.

Sheriff’s deputies got a call around 9 p.m. Monday of the overdue hiker, a 55-year-old Bend man, said Deputy Shane Zook, assistant Search and Rescue coordinator.

The caller used a “find my phone” app to determine the man had parked at the Tumalo Falls Trailhead, Zook said.

Deputies responded and check some trails in the area. A deputy with the Special Services division was contacted and advised of the situation, and paged out SAR volunteers to assist in the search, which continued through the night, Zook said.

Searchers showed other hikers in the area a photo of the missing man and asked them to call if they spotted him.

Shortly after 11 a.m., another area hiker called to report they found the man walking down a trail toward the Tumalo Falls parking area. Zook said searchers contacted the man, who said he lost his way as it got dark, so he sheltered in place overnight and began walking out Tuesday morning. The man was escorted back to his vehicle in the parking lot.