Lost mushroom picker found safe near Trillium Lake
NEAR TRILLIUM LAKE, Ore. — A passerby spotted a missing mushroom picker Wednesday and was able to alert search and rescue crews to his location, according to the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office.
Steven Souvannaraj, 80, of Gresham, was reported missing Tuesday when he failed to return home after leaving for his trip early Monday morning.
Search and rescue crews deployed from a command post set up at the Trillium Lake day-use area to search for him.
Souvannaraj’s family found his van shortly after 4 p.m. Tuesday.
Search crews worked late into Tuesday night and started again early Wednesday morning.
At about 12:40 p.m., the passerby spotted Souvannaraj at a rock quarry and notified authorities.
Crews evaluated Souvannaraj and walked him to the command post, where he was reunited with family.
Souvannaraj told his rescuers that he had earlier helped someone else who had gotten lost find their way out of the wilderness, but Souvannaraj got lost himself when he had to go back to find his car keys.
Trillium Lake is in the Mt. Hood National Forest south of Government Camp.