Rescue team's gear stolen hours after finding men who died sasquatch hunting
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The Skamania County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue team spent three days searching for the missing Portland men who tragically died while looking for sasquatch in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest on Christmas. Hours after the exhaustive search was over, nearly all of the team’s rescue equipment was stolen.
Skamania County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue is now asking for public donations on GoFundMe and Facebook to help restock the vital supplies, which have been used to save multiple lives within the past few months. As of Monday morning, the search and rescue organization has raised more than $12,000 to restock its supplies.
“While we are proudly affiliated with the Skamania County Sheriff’s Office, our search and rescue organization is a completely independent nonprofit,” the rescue team wrote on its GoFundMe page. “We receive no funding from federal, state, or local governments. Every piece of equipment, every training and every mission is made possible by generous donations from supporters like you. All of our rescuers are 100% volunteers with no paid staff.”
The theft occurred on the same night the search for the missing sasquatch hunters bodies were recovered from the forest, the rescue team said. The thieves cut through fencing, broke into the team’s storage trailer and made off with nearly every piece of rescue equipment inside.
“On the evening of the final night of the mission, while our fatigued volunteers were finally resting at home, thieves broke into our storage yard,” Skamania County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue said. “They cut through a 10-foot barbed wire fence and stole nearly everything not bolted down from our equipment trailers.”
Without its equipment, the team is struggling to remain prepared for future rescues.
The stolen equipment includes:
- First Responder grade equipment for technical rope rescue
- Equipment for packaging patients in a litter
- An AED (Automated External Defibrillator)
- Custom wilderness medical kits for remote emergencies
- Rescue kits for hypothermic patients
- Generators and other critical tools
- Projector for training
- Other essential rescue equipment
“Every piece of equipment is critical to saving lives — all indispensable tools that ensure the safety of both rescuers and those we rescue,” Skamania County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue said. “This isn’t just gear — it’s what ensures we can bring people home from life-threatening situations. Without it, we may not be able to respond to the next emergency, whether it’s rescuing someone stranded across a raging river or fallen from a cliff.”