ST. GEORGE, Utah, Oct. 21, 2016 (Gephardt Daily) — Sheriff’s departments and search and rescue teams from multiple counties in Oregon have called off the search for Annie Schmidt, the 21-year-old daughter of Jon Schmidt, a member of the St. George-based group The Piano Guys.
The Portland Police Bureau sent out a news release on Sunday, which said that after an extensive search, “… the decision (was made) to suspend search efforts pending new information or developments in the investigation. Search efforts will resume in the event MCSO SAR Coordinators establish credible leads.”
But Schmidt’s family and its supporters continue to search the Bonneville Dam area of the Columbia River Gorge, where Annie Schmidt’s car was found, and where she had planned an upcoming hiking trip with her mother.
The Piano Guys’ Facebook page tried to rally support with a Monday morning post:
Update: We’re still looking for Annie. There has been so much support and we are so grateful! Thank you! Although the local authorities have suspended the official search, we are not giving up and are organizing our own efforts.
The post asks for volunteers who are fit and can hike up to 10 miles.
“Bring warm clothes, hiking boots, rain jackets etc. We are setup at the Toothrock trailhead parking lot (I-84 exit 40). Ask for Al van der Beek when you get here. Please share this post! Thank you.”
Annie Schmidt, an experienced hiker and a Utah resident who had gone to Oregon for the summer, was heard from on Oct. 16, when she posted to social media. On Oct. 19, mother Michelle Schmidt flew in for a camping trip the two had been planning for weeks. When she arrived at her daughter’s apartment, Annie’s roommate said she assumed mother and daughter already had left as she had not seen Annie for three days.
Annie Schmidt reportedly had purchased a tent and camping equipment for the planned trip, but did not take those items with her on Oct. 16.
On Oct. 21, Jon Schmidt asked for support and prayers on the Facebook page of The Piano Guys, a group that performs piano and cello renditions of popular songs and classical music.
Friends,
I need your help. My daughter, Annie, went missing this week. We are searching in the “Tooth Rock” area of Portland, Oregon. If anyone was hiking around there last Sunday and saw her — or if you know someone who might have seen her there please call the local Portland police. It will narrow our search. She would have been wearing a gray or green beanie. We need everyone’s prayers too. Thank you.
The Portland Police Bureau’s Missing Persons Unit news release described the thoroughness of the search conducted last weekend.
“Over 150 volunteer search and rescue personnel have participated during search efforts since being called out Friday morning. Searchers were deployed to saturate the network of trails in and around the area of the Tooth Rock Trailhead, near where Anna Schmidt’s car was found,” the statement said.
“Over 50 searchers were deployed again today, October 23, 2016, rechecking and searching areas to ensure any possible leads or locations of interest were thoroughly covered.”
More than a dozen agencies participated in the search, and “… have searched over 150 miles of the trail system in the Columbia Gorge over the last three days. Searches were conducted using ground, air, and K9 resources. No signs of Anna Schmidt have been found.”
I can’t help wondering if Annie Schmidt could have been abducted rather than lost or injured on her probably short, spontaneous, intended hike. It doesn’t say if the search dogs found her scent in the first place or if it disappeared, once found. Many ruses could be used to lure a compassionate young woman to aid a “victim” elsewhere. Many times it has been stated that foul play was not suspected but how was that conclusion reached? I hope a missing person notice has been posted everywhere in case she was abducted. Since no sign of her being on the mountain has been found (or published) other than her car at the trailhead, it leaves the possibility that she’s no longer there.