West Linn teenagers were missing for 44 hours

Two teenagers who were missing east of Molalla were found Monday afternoon east of Estacada along Highway 224.

Bradley Nelson and Jackson Chandler, both students at West Linn High School, were found by a Molalla resident on service road 6310 at 1:30 p.m. Monday. The pair had set out on a hike at 5:30 p.m. Saturday evening.

The two set out to hike Table Rock Trail, but missed the trailhead, so they decided to park their truck and hike up a ridge they could see from the road. After walking along the ridge, they started walking back toward their truck, but were unable to locate it, and so they continued to walk through the forest until they found a closed road.

After walking down several dead ends, they found a road that looked well-traveled and they followed it until they found a passerby and flagged them down for help. The citizen then brought them back to their vehicle, where search and rescue crews were waiting.

The boys were found wet, cold and hungry, but were not injured. They were not prepared to spend the night, having no food or shelter.

More than 150 searchers from all over the region joined in an effort to locate the missing teens.