Search continues for missing Portland-area hiker
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Authorities say scores of searchers continued scouring rugged, wooded areas northwest of Portland near North Plains on Thursday for a 20-year-old woman missing since the beginning of the week.
The Washington County Sheriff’s Office says Allyson Watterson was hiking Sunday with her boyfriend near Old Pumpkin Ridge Road when, according to the boyfriend, the two became separated. The woman’s family reported her missing the next day.
On Thursday afternoon, Tony Morris of the sheriff's office search team said searchers found clues that would lead them to focus their search Friday in a specific area, and limit it to trained search and rescue crew members. He didn't elaborate on what they had found.
KGW reports the man last seen with Watterson, her boyfriend, Benjamin Hunter Garland, is now in custody on charges unrelated to her disappearance, the sheriff's office said.  According to officials, the information he has given to the search has been helpful.
