Oregon remains believed to be Allyson Watterson, 20, who vanished on December hike after being separated from boyfriend
THE remains of a woman, 20, who disappeared while hiking with her boyfriend in Oregon before Christmas are believed to have been discovered. A property owner discovered the remains after finding a shoe while clearing foliage. Deputies with the Washington County Sheriff’s Office received a call from the property owner off Northwest Corey Road near […]
THE remains of a woman, 20, who disappeared while hiking with her boyfriend in Oregon before Christmas are believed to have been discovered.
A property owner discovered the remains after finding a shoe while clearing foliage.
Deputies with the Washington County Sheriff’s Office received a call from the property owner off Northwest Corey Road near the North Plains around 5pm on Saturday, six months after Allyson Joy Watterson went missing, Sgt. Danny DiPietro told The Sun.
The property owner was “cleaning up some brush that was overgrown foliage and ended up finding a shoe,” DiPietro said. “People in the area were familiar with Watterson and her disappearance. Shortly after, they actually found remains.”
Other items were also found near the remains.
A search and rescue team with the sheriff’s office gathered evidence and turned it over to the medical examiner’s office to determine whether they are Watterson’s.
“The location of the body and items around the body lead us to believe it is most likely Ms. Watterson, but the medical examiners have to confirm it,” DiPietro said.
The remains are about six-months-old, so the confirmation is “going to take some time,” he said.
Watterson was last seen hiking with her 21-year-old boyfriend Benjamin Hunter Garland on December 22 in a wooded area outside of Portland, Oregon.
Garland told police that he became separated from his girlfriend and did not see her again.
Police and volunteers started looking for Watterson the following day and found “some interesting items and clues,” Deputy Tony Morris said at the time.
The deputy said the mysterious information would probably result in the investigation slowing down “quite a bit.”
Deputies found the remains in June only a day after the missing woman’s mother Misty Watterson posted about her “beautiful, amazing, courageous incredible daughter” on Facebook.
“The day she was taken out of my life will forever be the worst darkest day any mother could experience,” Misty Watterson wrote.
“To whom is responsible for taking my daughter out of my life I want you to know that you took my life my breath my soul my everything has been ripped away from me and my life and those lives around me that love and adore this child will forever be dark until she comes home to us.”
Misty Watterson wrote that the saying that time heals all wounds is “just not true” and that “time actually makes it more dark than you can even imagine.”
“To whomever is responsible for taking my child out of my life I want you to know that I will never stop looking for her I want you to know that she has the biggest most powerful and loving army of people behind her and we will never stop searching for her,” the mother wrote.
The Watterson family has been informed of the remains.
Garland was arrested on Christmas Eve on charges of theft, fraudulent credit card use, unauthorized vehicle use and possession of a stolen vehicle.
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The charges were not related to his girlfriend vanishing.
Garland was sentenced to three years in prison in April after pleading guilty to charges including second-degree theft, unauthorized motor vehicle use and fraudulent credit card use, according to the Daily Mail.
He also had his probation revoked on charges of fourth-degree assault, attempted coercion, unlawful weapon use and change or obliteration of a firearm identification number.