The Randle man who was last seen on the evening of Monday, Sept. 25, when he reportedly left his party of two other males and entered the woods near Burley Mountain to pick mushrooms, is still missing, the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office confirmed Tuesday.
Search and rescue coordinators began searching for the man, identified as 49-year-old Randy Hall, during daylight hours on Wednesday, Sept. 27, after his companions reported him missing the afternoon of Sept. 26, according to previous reporting by The Chronicle.
The Gifford Pinchot National Forest, which surrounds Burley Mountain, allows permits for both recreational and commercial mushroom picking.
Searches of the Burley Mountain area in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest continued through October, but have since been put on hold due to winter weather conditions making the terrain too treacherous for search and rescue operations to continue, according to the sheriff’s office.
The investigation remains ongoing and search parties will likely return to the area once conditions improve in the spring.
The office is still encouraging members of the public to call with any information that could help identify Hall’s whereabouts.
The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office front desk line is 360-748-9286.
