Woman, 20, vanishes hiking after ‘becoming separated’ from boyfriend, as cops find ‘interesting clues’
Police searching for a missing 20-year-old woman cited the emergence of mysterious ‘interesting items and clues’ that have altered their plans.
Allyson Watterson vanished while hiking with her 21-year-old boyfriend, Benjamin Garland, in a wooded area just outside Portland, Oregon on Sunday, police told ABC News.
Garland reportedly told police the couple became separated at some point and he didn’t see Watterson again.
Rescuers discovered ‘interesting items and clues’ during the subsequent search, according to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.
“[We] have found some interesting items and clues that we’re going to try to find out more information tomorrow with a different type of search,” Deputy Tony Morris said.
Morris said the mysterious new information would likely cause the investigation to “slow down quite a bit.”
He told the sheriff’s office will need to use more resources, including police dogs, to search the heavily wooded area.
Garland was arrested Tuesday on charges unrelated to his girlfriend’s disappearance, Oregon live reported.
He was charged with fraudulent use of a credit card, theft, unauthorized use of a vehicle and possession of a stolen vehicle.
An area resident reportedly found Garland asleep in his truck after he and Watterson got separated, police said.
Garland and his father then went back into the woods to look for Watterson and alerted her family when they still couldn’t find her.
Watterson’s family reported her missing on Monday, according to ABC News.
Nearly 100 trained rescuers and volunteers scoured the Oregon woods on Christmas Day, while drones and an Oregon National Guard helicopter equipped with heat-sensing cameras searched above.
Watterson’s parents thanked the searchers and community members who spent the holidays looking for their daughter.
They pleaded with the public to check their properties for any signs of the 20-year-old, who they believe may be looking for “a place to get warm.”
“Please get the word out to anybody who may or may not be on social media,” mom Misty Watterson told .
She added: “She’s just a very special person, and I will do anything to get her home. Anything.”