By Pepper Fisher
OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK – After 8 days of full-scale effort, the search for 78-year-old Duane Miles, missing in Olympic National Park, will continue but in a limited manner.
Deputy Superintendent Lee Taylor.
“And so today we’re actually moving into what we call a limited continuous search. So, the the extensive daily searches involving, you know, dozens of people, that’s winding down and we’ll just be relying on our staff that we have down in that area to keep their eyes open, watch for clues, and if we find anything else, you know, of course, we would follow up on it. But in every search we hit a point where we have to make a decision about how long to go on with the extensive search efforts. And we feel like, with all of the effort that’s been put in over the last eight days, we’ve reached a point on this one where we’re scaling back our effort.”
Miles told friends he was taking a day hike on October 20 but has not been heard from since. He is known to be a seasoned back country hiker, which has been an encouragement to searchers these 11 days later, despite some severe weather last week.
Taylor said dozens of search and rescue personnel from multiple agencies returned to the Graves Creek area of the park over the weekend, and may have found a possible clue.
“One of the things they came across was the remains of a sardine can and a little, like, fruit cup container, that looks like it could be relatively fresh. That would be to say, anywhere from, you know, a week to a month. And the Searchers, you know, focused on that area. Unfortunately, they didn’t find any further clues.”
Miles, from the town of Beaver, is thought to have gone looking for discarded elk antlers.