The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office has released the name of the Randle man who went missing on Sept. 25 while picking mushrooms near Burley Mountain.
Randy Hall, 49, 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 Forest Service Road 77. He was last heard from on Tuesday, Sept. 26, and his companions reported Hall as missing at 3:40 p.m. that day.
Search and rescue coordinators began searching for Hall during daylight hours on the following day, Wednesday, Sept. 27, according to previous reporting by The Chronicle, and continued searches on Thursday and Friday that week.
“The people he’s been with have been cooperative. We’ve talked to them numerous times at this point,” said Special Services Bureau Chief Kevin Engelbertson on Wednesday, later adding, “It does appear they were trying to find him before they called (on Sept. 26).”
The Gifford Pinchot National Forest, which surrounds Burley Mountain, allows permits for both recreational and commercial mushroom picking. Engelbertson confirmed Wednesday that Hall and the two other men were doing so recreationally in late September.
Both the sheriff’s office and The Chronicle recently received messages claiming Hall had been found with stab wounds, which Engelbertson said was false. He said the sheriff’s office also saw the same rumor circulating online.
“He has not been located,” Engelbertson said.
Engelbertson said the sheriff’s office’s searches have “exhausted” the Burley Mountain area, but there are still plans for future search parties and the investigation remains ongoing. As more than a month has passed since Hall went missing, recent search parties have been using cadaver dogs, Engelbertson said.
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.
