Family mourns 33-year-old hiker found dead in Mount Hood National Forest

WELCHES, Ore. (KATU) — A family is in mourning after the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office found the hiker who went missing last week in the Mt. Hood National Forest has identified 33-year-old James Robert MacDonald of Ridgefield, Washington. He was found by search and rescue crews near the Paradise Park Trail near Welches.

Last Wednesday, MacDonald decided to go for a walk on his day off from the hospital.

“James was a radiologist at OHSU. He was in his last year of residency or nearing the end of his residency,” said Ben Seeley, MacDonald’s brother-in-law. He tells us that MacDonald would be home for dinner.

“My sister was worried because she had no contact with him. There was no cell reception. And so when he was late and didn’t come home after hours, she called search and rescue,” Seeley said.

For two days the family was on an emotional rollercoaster.

“They had found a few things that gave us hope that he had, you know, dropped his water bottle, maybe they found footprints in the snow that they thought were his. We thought, okay, maybe he’s, you know, on his way to the mountains, like little updates,” Seeley said. “When the second night came, we really started to worry, knowing he wasn’t. I wasn’t planning on staying there tonight. His coat was in the car.’

Two days later, rescue crews found what we now know was MacDonald’s body. Seeley’s sister was devastated.

“She said it just feels like a bad dream. And it’s just very recent and it’s been so, so hard,” Seeley said.

MacDonald is survived by four children, two of whom are one-year-old twins.

The family’s financial future remains uncertain.

“They had sacrificed a lot and raised a family during his years in medical school. And you know, they were so close to the end and him being able to accept a full-time job,” Seeley said.

The family has one GoFundMe to help MacDonald’s wife and children.