Missing hiker’s shoes found along Oregon riverbank as search continues, cops say

UPDATE: Smaka’s body was found in the Sandy River on Monday, July 18, the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office said.

A man left home to go on a hike days ago and never returned, Oregon deputies said.

Christopher Smaka, a 53-year-old from Portland, left Monday, July 11, to go on a hike in the Gordon Creek area, the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office said. He wasn’t planning to camp overnight, and he never came home.

At about 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, July 12, deputies got a call reporting Smaka missing. Officials started looking for Smaka, and found his car parked near Corbett.

A search and rescue operation began because of the “time elapsed since he left home and forecasted high temperatures,” deputies said.

Rescuers rushed onto the 2-mile trail after Smaka’s car was found.

“On the riverbank, searchers located Smaka’s personal belongings, including his identification and a pair of shoes,” deputies said in a news release. “Ground searchers fanned out along the riverbank.”

Two kayakers searched the river, and a drone was sent to scour the area. Smaka still was not found.

The search operation was paused overnight, and the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office will continue leading the search efforts.

This story was originally published July 13, 2022 at 11:34 AM with the headline "Missing hiker’s shoes found along Oregon riverbank as search continues, cops say."