Skamania deputies search for mushroom picker, 93

Skamania County authorities on Wednesday entered a second day of searching for a deaf 93-year-old woman overdue from a mushroom picking expedition near Mount Adams.

The woman was last seen Tuesday morning on the western flank of the mountain, in eastern Skamania County, according to a sheriff’s office news release. According to the Coast Guard, the woman was supposed to wait in a car while her family went mushroom picking. When family members returned at noon, she was missing.

She is identified as Sonn Souv, of Newberg, Ore.

The family eventually reported her missing at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday. About 25 searchers worked through the night in temperatures that dropped into the upper 30s. A Coast Guard aircraft from Astoria, Ore., assisted in the search with an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter equipped with night vision gear.

On Wednesday, another MH-60 crew searched from 8:50 a.m. until 12:06 p.m. but failed to locate her.

The search was to continue through the night if necessary. “We are very concerned for the welfare of Ms. Souv,” said Undersheriff Dave Cox. “We are continuing to place available resources into the area, including during night operations, in an ongoing attempt to locate her.”

More than 40 ground searchers, some with search dogs or horses, were on the case Wednesday.

The search area is in the vicinity of the Salt Creek Trailhead on Forest Service Road 8031, northwest of Trout Lake, in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.

The case is similar to a September incident in which an 84-year-old Tacoma man was found safe after he went missing for two nights while picking mushrooms in the forest south of Randle.