Idaho electric worker finds body of Washington man who vanished on camping trip, cops say

BOISE (Idaho Statesman) — An Idaho electric worker found the body of a missing Washington man who vanished on a camping trip with friends, an Oregon Sheriff’s Office said.

Lan Hung Nguyen, 40, of Vancouver went missing after walking away from a campsite near Farewell Bend State Park in the evening of May 19, the Baker County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release posted on Facebook.

Nguyen didn’t return, so his friends reported him missing the next day.

The sheriff’s office said it and Nguyen’s friends and family searched the area. Deputies also said they spoke with “boaters and campers in the area,” but no one reported seeing Nguyen.

Despite ground and water searches, Nguyen wasn’t found, the sheriff’s office said.

The shoes he was last seen wearing were found “just above the shoreline near the campsite,” deputies said.

The sheriff’s office said it believes Nguyen “fell down the embankment and into the water.”

Six days after Nguyen went missing, an Idaho Power worker found “a body in the water near Steck Park” in Idaho, which deputies confirmed to be Nguyen, according to the sheriff’s office.

“Sheriff (Travis) Ash offers his sincere condolences to the family and friends of Mr. Nguyen during this tragic time,” deputies said.

Farewell Bend State Park straddles the Idaho-Oregon borders, about 80 miles northwest of Boise.