By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
An 80-year-old Morton man who lives alone was reported missing yesterday after his grown son arrived at the man’s residence for a planned hunting outing to find nobody home.
[1]William H. Osborne
William H. Osborne was last seen on Monday purchasing a hunting license at Tri Mountain Sports & Radio Shack in town, according to the Morton Police Department.
“We’re putting all resources into locating him, obviously time is of the essence,” Chief Dan Mortensen said this morning.
Osborne’s family describes him as possibly having some short term memory loss and he’s not very mobile because of his age, Mortensen said. He’s 5-feet 8-inches tall and about 185 pounds.
One challenge is it’s virtually impossible to activate a search and rescue mission because they have no specific location to start looking, the chief said.
Osborne’s family is in the area looking and police have alerted local law enforcement and surrounding agencies, according to Mortensen.
Osborne drives a silver 2003 Dodge Dakota pickup with a white utility canopy. Its license plate is B67640P.
He and his son spoke around 11:30 a.m. on Monday and that’s the last time Osborne’s cell phone was used, the chief said. He purchased the hunting license between noon and 2 p.m.
The son, who lives in Orting, showed up yesterday to meet his father, and then checked a local restaurant before calling police, Mortensen said.
Police tried unsuccessfully to “ping” the cell phone to learn its location, he said.
His neighbors didn’t think he came home Monday night, the chief said.
“We don’t know where he is,” Mortensen said. “His son thought he could have gone up into the mountains to shoot his gun, possibly grouse hunting.”