A man missing since 31 July in Washington’s North Cascades National Park found alive

A month after going missing, a trail crew in Washington’s North Cascades National Park discovered a missing hiker, authorities announced on Thursday. The hiker’s rescuers believe he may not have had much time left. Days after he was last seen at the park on July 31, 39-year-old Robert Schock was declared missing by authorities, according to the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office. Witnesses reported seeing the hiker without any overnight provisions near the Chilliwack River in the vicinity.

The sheriff’s office stated in a statement on Thursday that Schock was discovered “alive and well” in the park’s Chilliwack Basin on August 30. However, Schock’s mother and the trail crew who saved him paint a more grim image of his condition. Jan Thompson, Schock’s mother, claimed to the Cascadia Daily News that her son was underweight and frail.

Thompson told the outlet from her North Carolina home, “He’s in a lot of pain and he isn’t speaking very well, but he’s coherent and seemed in pretty high spirits.” “I didn’t press him too hard.” When an abandoned car and Schock’s dog were discovered 8 miles from the hiking trail on August 3, worries about his disappearance started to grow, according to the sheriff’s office.

Schock’s wallet was on the dashboard when deputies discovered the car with the windows down. Through August 16, many aerial and ground searches were carried out in the isolated region; but, until his discovery last week, no leads were found. A Pacific Northwest Trail Association team was working in the field when they heard Schock calling for assistance, Thompson told the Cascadia Daily News, and that’s how they found her son.