MISSING PERSON

Search Underway for 20-Year-Old Oregon Woman Last Seen Hiking With Boyfriend

The woman was last seen on Sunday.

A search is underway in Oregon for a 20-year-old woman who was last seen hiking on Sunday. The Washington County Sheriff’s Office search-and-rescue team is scouring the woods near North Plains for Allyson Joy Watterson, who authorities say was hiking with her boyfriend, Benjamin Hunter Garland. Garland told police that they were separated along a trail off of Old Pumpkin Ridge Road. Garland was booked into the Washington County jail on Tuesday morning on unrelated charges, and previous court records show that he has outstanding warrants for a felony drug possession charge, a probation violation on a 2017 assault, and a conviction for unlawful use of a weapon, The Oregonian reports. Sheriff’s spokesman Deputy Brian van Kleef said Garland is cooperating with authorities and they are not currently treating Watterson’s disappearance as a criminal investigation.