Missing Oregon Mushroom Hunter Survives Three Nights in the Wilderness After Family Trip Goes Wrong

The Umatilla County Sheriff’s Office (UCSO) confirmed that 69-year-old Mickey Dean Cearns of Stanfield, Oregon- who went missing just north of the Mt. Emily Snow Park off National Forest Road 3102 during a family mushroom hunting trip on Sunday- has been found.

USCO mobilized a multi-agency Search and Rescue (SAR) operation immediately after Cearns was reported missing by his concerned family on Sunday, approximately 2:20 pm. He was last seen wearing a white t-shirt, multi-colored (tie-dye style) shorts, and red walking shoes, and was described as 6’0”, 220 lbs., and bald.

From Sunday, SAR team members conducted ground searches. They deployed several drone flights to survey the area, as well as K-9 search and rescue teams from Umatilla and Wallowa Counties.

SAR teams from Baker County, Grant County, and Union County, and later, Wallowa County, also responded to assist in the especially challenging terrain through dense vegetation and over some steep areas.

The U.S. Forest Service – Umatilla National Forest assisted in the search, and Life Flight provided air support and an aerial vantage point of the search area from the second day.

The public was asked to avoid the search area on NF-3102 to ensure that air assets and tracking teams could operate without interference during the search.

Cearns was eventually found at 8.32 yesterday morning after spending three nights in the wilderness and was reported to have returned to his family this morning.