PORTLAND, Ore. — Officials suspended their search late Tuesday night for a hiker and her two dogs in the Mount Hood National Forest near Welches. The woman and dogs have been missing since Friday, the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office (CCSO) said.
Sixty-one-year-old Susan "Phoenix" Lane-Fournier, a Brightwood resident, was reported missing after failing to show up at work on Friday. Deputies searched her residence but did not locate her. The next day, Cari Gesch, a friend of Fournier's, spotted her truck, a white 1992 Ford F-250, parked along East Salmon River Road near the Green Canyon Way Trail south of Welches.
"I saw the truck on the side of the road, and it just hit me as odd because that's not really a place someone who's hiking that trail there would park," Gesch said.
Gesch said Lane-Fournier knows the area well and is an experienced hiker. She's believed to have been hiking with her two dogs, CCSO said.
"She's got two large Malinois-mix-type dogs," said CCSO Sergeant Ross Clemson. "They're pretty noticeable if you see them. So we think she's up here hiking with those dogs, and then, based on finding her pickup truck near a trailhead, that's another clue as to why we think she's up here."
Eight search and rescue teams comprised of 37 volunteers, including K9 teams, searched the area over the weekend but had no luck. A search party resumed Monday and again on Tuesday. In total, more than 800 hours were spent looking for her.
"We're just all concerned," Gesch said. "It's not like her to not show up to work, not call, and no one's seen or heard anything. ... She's a little bit eccentric, but everyone up here on this mountain is a little bit eccentric. But she's just the most kindest, most loving person. I mean, you will not hear anyone say a bad word about Phoenix."
Lane-Fournier is 5-foot-2, weighs around 150 pounds, and has reddish-brown hair. While Lane-Fournier is familiar with the hiking area, it's not known if she was prepared to stay out overnight. Temperatures in the area have dropped into the 30s with light rain at night, CCSO said.
"Conditions here in Welches during the day, it's 40 degrees. There's been some light precipitation. The further you go up in elevation, the colder it gets," Clemson said.
However, late Tuesday, the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office halted the search based on weather conditions and likelihood of survival, but the investigation itself remains open.
Investigators are hoping to speak with anyone who saw Lane-Fournier before her disappearance or who has information about her whereabouts the week leading up to her disappearance. Anyone can contact the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office non-emergency dispatch line at 503-655-8211 or online and reference case No. 24-024698.
