PORT ANGELES — Isaac Rivas, who was found alive on the fourth day of a search after he was reported missing, was in Olympic Medical Center being stabilized Sunday morning, according to Sgt. John Keegan of the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office.
An update was not available from the hospital on Sunday afternoon.
Rivas, 73, was found in 3-foot-tall grass at about 2:50 p.m. Saturday one-third of a mile north of his Dan Kelly Road residence by members of the Mason County Search and Rescue Team, Keegan reported in a press release issued late Saturday.
Rivas’ location was discovered when a search K-9 dog alerted his handler and team members.
Rivas was alert and conscious after surviving since Wednesday with no food or water. Team members began hypothermia treatment and warmed him with dry clothes, heat packs and emergency blankets, Keegan said. He was taken to OMC in Port Angeles.
Rivas told rescuers that he had left his residence Wednesday evening for a walk. He was following a fence line when he stumbled and fell. He tried unsuccessfully to crawl to a nearby residence.
Forty volunteers and nine K-9 teams from multiple counties — including Kitsap, Mason, Pierce and Jefferson as well as Clallam — had searched for Rivas since Thursday morning.
Rivas is a veteran who earned a Purple Heart in Vietnam. His daughter, Solana Rivas, described him as an experienced backpacker who often took walks in the wooded area around his home.
