A hiker who headed out in Mount Rainier National Park under sunny skies on Friday for a walk was one of two missing hikers being searched for Wednesday in the park/Rebecca Latson
Mount Rainier National Park rangers had two missing hikers on their hands Wednesday, one believed to be in the Paradise area, the other near Longmire.
The Longmire hiker, Vincent Djie, was last seen Friday, June 19. A 25-year-old Indonesian student living in Seattle, Djie was said to be hiking the Van Trump Trail toward Mildred Point. When he failed to return home that night, he was reported missing to the Pierce County Sherriff’s Office.
On Monday the sheriff's office issued a BOLO alert, "Be on the lookout," and Djie's car was located at Longmire. Djie was wearing black pants, and a blue-and-white tie-dye shirt, and carrying a small drawstring-type bag, a park release said. If you have any information regarding his current location, please call (360) 569-6683.
Park rangers and volunteers from the Tacoma Mountain Rescue were conducting ground and aerial searches, as well as utilizing Forward Looking Infrared Rader, or FLIR, to detect any heat signatures being emitted in the area. Currently, most park trails are melted out to approximately 5,000 feet elevation, with patchy snow on trails and drainages at lower elevations.
Weather on Friday was warm and dry, with a cold front bringing unsettled, cooler weather on Saturday and Sunday with 1/4" of precipitation and poor visibility above 6000 feet. Monday saw a return of calm, sunny weather. A frontal system was forecast to cross the area Wednesday, bringing a threat for a few light showers to the park.
The second search started Monday after another Seattle resident, Talal Sabbagh, 27, was reported missing after planning a hike from Paradise on Sunday. Rangers located his vehicle in the parking lot at Paradise. A hasty search was conducted on Monday resulting in no sign of Sabbagh. He was last seen wearing a gray shirt, black shorts, and dark Nike shoes. If you have any information regarding his current location, please call (360) 569-6683.
Comments
Photos of these two men and search updates:
https://twitter.com/MountRainierNPS/status/1275593121309446145
Another hiker saw Talal Sabbagh and tried to tell him to come back but Talal didn't hear him. He was too far into the mountain. That hiker took a couple of pictures of Talal. This was Sunday. Are you aware of that? Do you have the pictures? There was also a map of where he saw him. I have there pics. Many other people do too. It's been going around in social media.
Nidaa, if you see this, if you havent done so, you might call the number listed in the article above just in case your important information has not made it to the proper authorities. Hope both will be okay.
Hiking sounds like fun! If you go be prepared for a night or two in the middle of nowhere, because if you are lost you are nowhere. Hope they are found safe.