The King County Sheriff’s Office announced on September 19, 2017 that it had suspended a search for a 57-year old hiker missing since last Thursday, September 14th.
Sergey Cherepov, a Russian citizen in the Puget Sound region on business, had hiked with two friends to Goldmyer Hot Springs in the Middle Fork area near North Bend. He left the springs alone and headed back towards the parking area while his friends hiked out on the road. When Sergey’s friends got to the parking area he was nowhere to be found.
According to KCSO, the friends searched for him and called police Friday, September 15th when they could not locate him. King County Search and Rescue volunteers had been searching the area since Friday.
Sergey had no equipment, food, or water and was not dressed for cold temperatures – wearing only shorts and a t-shirt. He also had a head injury from a recent fall and was wearing a bandage on his head.
The Sheriff’s Office said the search area is extremely large, with dense forests and vegetation which made the search difficult. Trails in the area were searched, but rescuers fear he may have fallen, making it difficult to locate him in the thick brush off the trails. Weather was also an issue as rain set in on Sunday.
