Nathan Richard Hiatt, known by his middle name Richard, vanished from his Winlock, Washington home on December 3, 2007, during a historic flood that forced the rescue of hundreds. He was 80 and a retired Weyerhaeuser dock worker. Neighbors say he was last seen in his backyard on Byham Road after the basement they shared with his wife Mary Ann began taking on water; he may have gone outside to check the sump pump’s outflow.

That morning Richard had stopped for coffee with his son, then left a three-word, panicky answering-machine message saying I need help. When the son returned minutes later Richard was gone. Authorities and the family focused searches on Waller’s Creek and Olequa Creek—Waller’s ran through a deep ravine behind the property and a section of its bank was found caved in—but despite divers and dog teams no body was recovered. A coat found during the search was thought by the son and daughter-in-law to be his, though his wife did not recognize it.

Richard’s family published a death announcement two weeks later and continue to regard him as lost and presumed drowned. Did anyone in the Winlock area see him that day or notice anything unusual near Waller’s Creek?