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The mysterious disappearance of Tom McAdams at Horsetail Falls in Oregon

Thomas Branch McAdams, disappeared September 24, 2016, Horsetail Falls, Columbia River Gorge, Oregon.

Revised January 2024

Thomas “Tom” Branch McAdams, aged 67, from Portland in Oregon, was last seen on Saturday, September 24, 2016, as he headed for a day hike near the Horsetail Falls in the Columbia River Gorge area.

He was reported missing on Monday, September 26, and his vehicle was located in the parking lot at the trailhead to Horsetail Falls in the Columbia Gorge. Despite an extensive search, Tom remains missing.

What is and where is Horsetail Falls?

Horsetail Falls is a waterfall along the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon. The waterfall is easily accessed right next to the Historic Columbia River Highway. The shape of the falls and the rounded rockface over which it flows cause it to resemble a horse's tail. There are two waterfalls along the creek. The upper falls, called Upper Horsetail Falls or Ponytail Falls, can be accessed from a footpath.

Who was Tom McAdams?

Tom was born on November 20, 1948, in Hartford, Connecticut. Shortly after his birth, his parents moved to Bloomfield, Connecticut, where Tom and his three younger siblings grew up. As children, his summers were spent on the coast of Maine, learning how to sail and appropriately eat a lobster. Maine would continue to be a special place for Tom throughout his life.

He attended Kenyon College from 1967 to 1971, majoring in Religion. Though Tom was not religious, he was religiously opposed to the war and being drafted.

In the mid-1970s, Tom drove out to Portland in a VW van and later started a degree in nursing at Oregon Health and Sciences University in 1979 and graduated in 1982. In 1978, Tom began working at the Oregon Burn Center at Legacy Emanuel Hospital, where he would work as a burn nurse for the next 38 years. He retired from the Burn Unit in January 2016.

Even in his 60s, Tom was an active, healthy person who loved the outdoors. He was an avid downhill and cross-country skier and enjoyed canoeing and sailing. Above all, he loved hiking. He climbed Mt. Hood, Mt. Adams, Mt. St. Helens, South Sister, and Mt. Katahdin in Maine and hiked the trails of the Columbia Gorge innumerable times since moving to Portland.

Tom had a wife, Cynthia, and daughters, Brittany and Alice. He was 5 feet 11 and weighed 165 pounds with gray hair, green eyes, bushy eyebrows and a mustache.

The search

Portland Police said Tom may have been suffering from some recent signs of memory loss and some personal issues. They also say he didn't bring any of his hiking gear, which was a big concern for Mark Morford, the PIO for Portland Mountain Rescue, "We're searching the waterfalls, looking around the base of the falls, looking in the pools, but there have been no clues. We always worry when a hiker is out and doesn't have the stuff to survive the night. We really encourage hikers going out to have the minimum gear to get through the night."

Morford's group sent nine searchers into four teams to help search the area around the falls. With temperatures in the 60s, officials hoped McAdams could easily survive the elements.

A hiker called David Jenkins, who was in the area at the time of the disappearance, said, "It's beautiful, and they've got well-developed trails here. I hike by myself sometimes, and I've thought a lot about what if I have some trouble?"

Canine teams were sent in hoping to pick up a scent and a plane was used between midnight and 2 am. during the first day of the search effort. Officials said the plane got a "credible" hit in the Nesmith Trail area, so search crews headed to the area at first light, but there was no sign of Tom. In total up to 150 people searched more than 200 miles of Columbia River Gorge trails to find him, but to no avail.

The authorities decided to suspend the search within days "pending new information or developments in the investigation. Multnomah County search and rescue coordinators announced they would begin a renewed effort when credible new leads were established. These credible new leads never materialized.

No sign of Tom or his belongings has been found since he disappeared in 2016. It was a factor that he was having some personal issues, but he seems to have been happily married with two daughters. He intended to hike for only a few hours as he took no equipment, but something happened that day.

For now, the mysterious disappearance remains unexplained.

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