Two men from Oregon who went missing after going on a search for Sasquatch have been found dead, Washington state officials announced Saturday.
The men, both from Portland, were reported missing by a family member on Christmas Day and were set to return from searching for the legendary creature in eastern Skamania County on Christmas Eve, according to the county sheriff's office.
A search was launched and a vehicle associated with the two men was found off a road near Willard, Wash.
After a three-day search involving more than 60 people, the bodies of both men, 37 and 59 years old, were found in Gifford Pinchot National Forest, located in the southwestern part of Washington state, in a heavily wooded area, according to the Skamania County Sheriff's Office.
Their cause of death appears to be because of "exposure, based on weather conditions and ill-preparedness," the sheriff's office said.
The area had faced rounds of snow and rain with temperatures in the 30s across the Cascades in the days leading up to the men being reported missing. The search for the men also took place amid "difficult terrain and harsh weather conditions" as crews faced conditions such as "freezing temperatures, snow, high water levels," law enforcement said.
Sasquatch, commonly known as "Bigfoot," is a large, hairy figure that resembles a human and is thought to live in northwestern parts of the U.S. and Canada. The existence of Bigfoot has been debated for decades and many have reported sightings of the creature. More than 700 reports of Bigfoot sightings in Washington state have been submitted to the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization, the group says.
In Skamania County, harming Bigfoot is punishable by a $1,000 fine and can include jail time, according to the county's chamber of commerce — a law meant to protect the mysterious creature and to prevent hunters with large beards from accidentally getting shot.
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