Police in Washington are searching for a 19-year-old woman, missing since Sunday, who reportedly went on a trek wearing no shoes or clothing.
Maureen Kelly, 19, from Vancouver, was last seen on Sunday at the Canyon Creek Campground in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest in southwest Washington State when friends say she said she was going on a 'spiritual quest' into the wilderness.
A friend told Skamania County Sheriff's office that Kelly left the campsite wearing only a fanny pack. The AP reports that her friend raised the alarm late Sunday, after she failed to return to the campsite.
Alongside the sheriff’s office, volunteer search crews are combing the forest area where she was last seen.
“Where she entered the creek is amazingly steep. It’s called Canyon Creek Campground for a reason,” Sharon Ward of Pacific Crest Search Dogs told KPTV.
“It’s very, very steep. So how she got down there barefoot is a wonder. And how she came up out of the bottom is a wonder.”
Kelly was reportedly carrying a small knife and a compass in the fanny pack, but police are concerned that is she is not prepared to survive the elements without clothing.
“We had a fairly mild evening last night with temperatures in the lower 50s,” Skamania County undersheriff Dave Cox told KPTV on Monday.
“We have set up a command post in the area and currently are utilizing ground search teams in the immediate area in an attempt to locate her this morning.”
The Skamania County Sheriff’s Office is asking anyone with any information to call 509-427-9490. The search continued on Tuesday.
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