Lost and found: two searches, two results

A Forest Grove family is relieved that their nine-year-old is home, while a Cherry Grove family is still looking for a missing 48-year-old

By Christian Gaston

The Forest Grove News-Times, Nov 18, 2009

Courtesy photo / News-Times

Thies

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For Lauren Schneider, the ordeal ended after about nine hours when a friend’s neighbor found her nine-year-old son Joseph unharmed.

But for the Thies family of Cherry Grove, the worry won’t end. Kenneth Thies, 48, disappeared while walking his dogs near Lee Falls on Nov. 8.

The dogs returned, but Thies didn’t.

Search and rescue crews spent most of last week trying to find Thies, but haven’t turned up any real clues.

“It’s not a closed case by any means,” said Sgt. David Thompson, spokesman for the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, the agency that led the search.

But at this point, the active searching has been called off, with all leads exhausted.

“If somebody saw him somewhere we’ll start looking again,” Thompson said.

The Sheriff’s office called search crews to Cherry Grove on the evening of Tuesday, Nov. 10, after his sister reported him missing.

Washington County’s volunteer explorer post got help from Yamhill County, Multnomah County and Portland Mountain Wave, Search One Canine and Tillamook County ATV last Wednesday.

That evening, when searchers were winding down the quest for Thies, they got a call from the Schneiders.

The Schneiders were visiting friends on Gheen Road in Manning and, after warning Joseph to be more careful around firearms about 3 p.m., he left.

“We’d gotten after him about not being safe,” Lauren Schneider said.

“At first I thought yeah, he has a jacket, but then we found his jacket in the car,” Schneider said.

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