Fred Frauens

• Missing Since 03/02/2003
• Missing From Clackamas County, Oregon
• Classification Lost/Injured Missing
• Sex Male
• Race White
• Age 49 years old
• Height and Weight Unknown
• Clothing/Jewelry Description A Gore-Tex jacket and pants.
• Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Brown hair. Frauens may wear eyeglasses.

Details of Disappearance

Frauens left the Timberline Lodge at 10:00 a.m. on the morning of his disappearance to go snowshoeing on Mt. Hood, to the Hogback, at about 10,500 feet elevation.

He was last seen snowshoeing sometime that afternoon. He was supposed to return to his wife and sons at the lodge by 5:00 p.m. but never made it. His wife reported him missing at 6:00 p.m., and a search was initiated.

An extensive search of the Mount Hood area failed to find any sign of Frauens. He is an experienced hiker and marathoner and he has been to Mount Hood four times before, but he is not a mountaineer, and he has very little winter survival experience.

Frauens was poorly equipped for any extended period out in the weather and did not have a compass or any electronic devices, such as a cellular phone or mountain rescue unit, to assist in locating him. He was last seen carrying two apples and and a water bottle. In the days following his disappearance the weather was below freezing with some snow and occasional whiteout conditions.

A body was found in the Zigzag Canyon area of Mount Hood in early August 2003 that was wearing clothes similar to what Frauens was last seen wearing. Authorities initially announced that the remains were his, but they turned out to be wrong; Frauens is still missing. He is still believed to have died in the wilderness.

Frauens was employed as a sign painter at the time of his disappearance. He is originally from California; he moved with his family to Oregon in October 2002. His case remains unsolved.