Officials have ended the ground search for missing Anacortes resident Keith Anderson, whose truck was found in the southeast corner of Skagit County about 10 days ago, according to Anacortes Police Chief Bonnie Bowers.
Anderson's truck was located on January 22 about eleven miles up a gravel fire road north of Darrington. Anacortes Police, Skagit County Sheriff's Department and Search & Rescue launched a ground search the next day. The truck was stuck, high-centered, on the road with the keys inside.
Searchers scoured the area for several days before giving up. Bowers said the search got more dangerous as searchers got further away from the truck and the fire road.
Bowers said her office has circulated what she called forensic information to the State Patrol, but that nothing has turned up other than his truck since his disappearance on January 6. He left his Anacortes home to meet an acquaintance in Snohomish Clounty, but left without a cell phone, extra clothes or his medications, leading family to believe he'd be back in a day or two.
An informal, grass-roots search was launched by family and friends in the days after his disappeance.
The 62-year-old Anderson was a counselor at Anacortes High School and is well-known and well-liked in the community. This disappearance has drawn national attention because his son Jake works on one of the fishing boats featured in the TV series 'Deadliest Catch' on Discovery channel.