Teams search for missing official

HOODSPORT – Searchers scoured the southeast corner of Olympic National Park by land and by air Wednesday, looking for a state official reported missing last weekend, the National Park Service said.

Gilbert Gilman, 47, of Olympia – deputy director of the state Department of Retirement Systems – was apparently last seen Saturday at the Staircase Ranger Station. A co-worker reported him missing Sunday, when he failed to show up for a business trip to Spokane, according to the Thurston County sheriff’s office.

More than 40 searchers, with four dog teams, searched Wednesday along three main trails out of the Staircase Ranger Station, near Hoodsport.

Search teams were aided by a helicopter and a fixed-wing aircraft provided by the State Patrol Aviation Section. The plane was outfitted with infrared sensors that enable it to detect heat signatures on the ground.

The search area Wednesday covered about 30 to 35 square miles.

No information has been found to indicate Gilman’s possible direction of travel.

Gilman’s 2005 silver Thunderbird convertible was found Tuesday at the ranger station where it had apparently been parked since Saturday, a ranger told Thurston County sheriff’s Chief Criminal Deputy Dan Kimball.

Park spokesman Mike Gurling said with the mild weather of the past several days it would be possible for a hiker who was lost or injured to survive.

Gilman, who recently moved to the Northwest from New York, was described as being in good health, with limited overnight hiking skills.

“It looks like he went out for a walk Saturday, but no one has seen him since,” Kimball said.

A search of Gilman’s home turned up nothing out of the ordinary, Kimball said.