STEVENS COUNTY, Washington — More than 250 people in Stevens County helped find 55-year-old Lorri Price after she went missing on Huckleberry Mountain.
People in the Summit Valley community near the mountain said they immediately wanted to help when they heard Price was missing.
They said Price and one of her friends went to pick huckleberries early Monday morning. But around noon, her friend came down the mountain saying he couldn’t find Price.
“He went to dump his bucket of huckleberries. When he comes back, she’s gone,” said Cassie Carstens, one of the people who helped looked for Price.
Word of Price’s disappearance spread quickly and sparked a community-wide search.
Celia Beardslee was another community member who looked for Price. As a volunteer firefighter with the county, she said her first instinct was to help.
“When I went up to the top of the mountain the first day, there were tons of people,” she said. “There were hundreds of us up there.”
Police said Price has dementia, which made the search more difficult.
Carstens said neighbors and family members brought four-wheelers and trucks to ride up the mountain and further their search.
“Everybody was just scouring the mountain and looking for Lorri,” she said.
Those involved in the search also worked along with police.
“People were out until probably about four o’clock in the morning out on the mountainside. Then we had people who had gone home and come back that were probably there until four o’clock in the morning to start the day again,” Carstens said.
By Wednesday night, there was still no sign of Lorri.
“We had maps, walkie-talkies, tree ribboning tape. It was looking grim. We were all expecting the worst,” Carstens said.
But Friday afternoon is when hope arrived. One neighbor, Steve Gibson, decided to ascend a side of the mountain.
“He was going to check out an area where we’d seen birds flying around days prior,” Carstens said.
She said as Gibson parked his truck and stepped outside, he saw Price bending over and picking huckleberries.
“He calls out and says, ‘Lorri,’ and she replies to him,” Carstens said.
Price’s son went running down the mountain to inform the rest of the community.
“He just steps out of the rig and says, ‘She’s been found. She’s alive.’ It was just the greatest relief that anyone had heard that whole day. It was just a miracle,” Carstens said.
Others in the community said the reward was priceless.
“It was just like, ‘Phew,’” Beardslee said. “It was finally all over.”
“I don’t think that this would have been possible without this community,” Carstens said.
Police said Price appeared to be OK when she was taken to an area hospital.
