Rescuers searching for overdue hiker at Vesper Peak

A 911 caller reported around 1 a.m. that the woman had not returned.

VERLOT — Authorities are searching for a 28-year-old Seattle woman reported missing near Vesper Peak early Thursday morning.

A 911 caller reported around 1 a.m. that the woman had not returned from her hike in the area off the Mountain Loop Highway, east of Verlot, said Courtney O’Keefe, a spokeswoman for the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office.

The hiker had left around 8 a.m. Wednesday and was expected to call her boyfriend to check in by 6 p.m. that day.

Search crews, including volunteers and a helicopter team, were combing the area.

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