Press release from: Clackamas Co. Sheriff’s Office

Clackamas County Sheriff's Office  searches for missing teen swept down Sandy River

Posted: Monday, June 30, 2008

At 2:12 p.m. on Saturday, June 28, rescue personnel from the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office, Hoodland Fire and Sandy Fire responded to reports that a male teenager had been swept down the Sandy River east of Marmot.

This missing teen is identified as Patrick James Cody Monteith, 16, a Sandy High student who resides on E. Sylvan Drive in Sandy.

He was reportedly attempting to negotiate the river with three companions -- who were accounted for and attended to by rescue personnel after being safely removed from a precarious position on the Sandy River. (One of the rescued companions complained of a non-threatening side pain.)

The missing teen was reportedly not wearing a lifejacket when he was swept downriver. This stretch of the river is silt-colored, 54 degrees and swift-moving.

A command post was established at 53091 E. Sylvan Dr. in Sandy, and a Fire Chaplain was summoned to assist the mother of the missing teen, who arrived in the search area.

An Army National Guard 1042 helicopter flew the area to assist with the search. It completed several visual sweeps of the area until 7 p.m. Saturday evening, with no results. Volunteer searchers representing NORSAR, a canine-oriented search group, also combed the water’s edge and scoured the rugged terrain east of Marmot.

At 9:40 p.m. on Saturday, the search was terminated for the evening -- and resumed at 6 a.m. Sunday with a more extensive search further downriver.

Sunday’s search effort also increased focus on the water. Search personnel representing Lake Oswego Fire, the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office Marine Unit, Sandy Fire and Gresham Fire kayaked and rafted on the Sandy in search of the missing teen. Eight ground-search volunteers from Pacific Northwest Search & Rescue and Mountain Wave Emergency Communications worked the ground along the riverbanks.

The Sheriff's Office also reached out to other law-enforcement organizations for additional personal floatation devices for the ground searchers who are working close to the riverbank. This is a very rugged section of the river, flanked by steep rocky cliffs and wrapped in blackberry bushes. Negotiating the river’s edge proved grueling and treacherous.

The river itself was running very cloudy and cold, thanks to persistent snow runoff from Mount Hood, which created only about 4 feet of murky visibility in the swift-moving water.

The search was concluded around 5 p.m. on Sunday, June 29. All efforts to locate Patrick Monteith had failed.

The Clackamas County Sheriff's Office extends a huge thank-you to all the volunteers who responded to the search. These volunteer organizations are an unrelenting force -- dedicated to serve and providing expertise in the most grueling of conditions. The Sheriff also recognizes the chaplain's corps, which offered comfort as family and friends wrestled with the invisible wound of sorrow.

Our hearts are with the family and friends of Patrick Monteith, who remains missing.

[END]

Contact Info: Jim Strovink, Detective