The strange disappearance of Ronald Allen Ohm from the Mount Jefferson Wilderness
Ronald Allen Ohm, disappeared August 9, 2012, Mount Jefferson Wilderness, Willamette National Forest, Oregon
Revised January 2024
Ronald “Ron” Allen Ohm, 52, was near Russell Lake in the Mount Jefferson Wilderness on Thursday, August 9, 2012, and hiking with two friends.
On a ridge above the lake, he told them he would stay a while to take pictures while they set up camp down below. His friends headed down, leaving Ron behind.
Ron was an experienced hiker, familiar with the area, and was equipped with a blue and red backpack, tent, sleeping bag and provisions to last several days. He suffered from a medical condition that required daily medications, and he had taken four days’ supply of tablets with him.
Ron Ohm never returned from that ridge near Russell Lake in the Mount Jefferson Wilderness.
Twelve years later, no remains have been found, and his equipment has not turned up despite a very large search effort over multiple years.
The trip to Russell Lake
The group had departed from the Breitenbush Lake campground trailhead and planned to spend the weekend at Russell Lake, southwest of Portland.
The search begins for Ronald Ohm
Ron never showed up at camp that Thursday night on August 9, 2012. The friends looked for him Friday, then hiked out Friday evening and reported him missing.
In addition to Marion County Sheriff’s officials, searchers from Linn, Benton, Deschutes, Lane and Polk Counties, and Portland Mountain Rescue participated in the six-day search. Search crews looked for Ohm on foot, horses, SUVs, and ATVs, focusing on the area between Russell, Scout, and Bays lakes.
Helicopters from the Oregon Army National Guard and Cessna 182 aircraft from the Civil Air Patrol flew numerous hours scouring the search area but could not spot any sign of Ron. Many hikers were contacted during the search, and fliers were posted at trailheads and along the Pacific Crest Trail.
Over two hundred searchers dedicated approximately 3,500 hours to search 300 square miles of the Willamette National Forest north of Mount Jefferson. Efforts were hampered by the smoke and the approaching "Waterfall 2" forest fire moving west from Warm Springs.
Russell Lake and Mount Jefferson
The area around Russell Lake is heavily forested and has many ridges and valleys with some snow cover. Daytime temperatures occasionally reached 90 degrees. The elevation of the search area varied from 5,000 to 7,500 feet above sea level.
The search resumes
In August 2013, a year after Ron's disappearance, MCSO Search & Rescue volunteers from Team 18, along with personnel in Jeeps and on horseback, returned to the area to search again in the hope of finding his remains. Fifty-four people were involved in the search, camping two nights in the wilderness to maximize the time available to search. The search was focused along the Pacific Crest Trail, between the Brietenbush and the White Water trailheads. But this second search, involving a total of 1135 man-hours of searching, failed to find any evidence.
What happened to Ron Ohm?
No evidence of Ron Ohm's remains, clothing, or equipment has been found. This is another case of someone vanishing in Oregon and someone taking some pictures in the wilderness that mysteriously disappears despite an extensive search. Did Ron take his own life and walk off, giving the story to his friends that he planned to take pictures? Did a bear or mountain lion grab him? - but no clothing, camera or equipment left behind.
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Sources
http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2012/08/search_for_missing_portland_hi.html
http://democratherald.com/news/local/active-search-ends-for-missing-hiker-in-willamette-national-forest/article_cc9c5ca8-e735-11e1-9a0f-0019bb2963f4.html
http://www.ktvz.com/news/oregon-northwest/year-later-search-fails-to-find-missing-mt-jefferson-hiker/68370017
https://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/2012/08/search_for_missing_portland_hi.html
