Led by a dog named Glacier, (from left) Trina Eddy, Wendy Bowlin and Angela Jurdon search the woods Sunday afternoon on the Tulalip Reservation. They were looking for clues to the disappearance of Jacob Hilkin, who has been missing since Jan. 23. (Kevin Clark / The Daily Herald)

Led by a dog named Glacier, (from left) Trina Eddy, Wendy Bowlin and Angela Jurdon search the woods Sunday afternoon on the Tulalip Reservation. They were looking for clues to the disappearance of Jacob Hilkin, who has been missing since Jan. 23. (Kevin Clark / The Daily Herald)

Search for missing man in Tulalip turns up no clues

Jacob Hilkin has been missing since Jan. 23; “we just want him home,” his father says.

TULALIP — The search for Jacob Hilkin will have to continue.

A full day of scouring 700 acres in Tulalip on Sunday yielded no clues about the 24-year-old man’s whereabouts. About 100 people joined the search-and-rescue effort.

“It looks like we came up with nothing,” said Lt. Robert Martin with the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office.

Hilkin went missing Jan. 23 around 10:20 a.m. No trace of him has been found, despite persistent searching by his father, Matthew Hilkin, and family and friends.

“There was nothing I found in my daily searches,” Hilkin said.

Jacob Hilkin

Jacob Hilkin

The full-scale search for Jacob Hilkin on Sunday was the first organized by the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office. It included volunteers from King, Kitsap, Mason and Pierce counties, Snohomish County Volunteer Search and Rescue, Everett Mountain Rescue and the Tulalip Police Department.

“It’s been what we’ve been asking for since day one,” said his mother, Marni Pierce.

Through some dense wooded areas and neighborhoods, search groups split up into grids to make the area more manageable. Efforts were focused along 27th Avenue, between Tulalip Resort Casino and Marine Drive NE, where he was last seen walking. The area runs parallel to I-5 with the Quil Ceda Creek Casino to the south.

Hilkin’s mother described the Glacier Peak High School graduate, avid snowboarder and fan of electronic dance music as a “gentle soul.”

“He was a typical 24-year-old boy,” she said. “He had no fear and was enjoying life.”

The night before Hilkin disappeared, he went to the Quil Ceda Creek Casino with two friends. Eventually, he told a friend he would take a bus home.

A woman later reported Hilkin walked into a homeless camp by the casino, where she said he tried to buy heroin. A Tulalip police officer found Hilkin alone and checked his ID just minutes later, while patrolling at the camp, according to the sheriff’s office. Hilkin told the officer he would catch a bus to his mother’s house in Everett. There’s no evidence he boarded a bus.

Hilkin is 5-foot-11, 160 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes.

After two months of not knowing, his parents are looking for anything that could help them locate their son.

“We love him and respect him and no matter what trouble he’s in, we just want him home,” Matthew Hilkin said.

Martin said the sheriff’s office major crimes unit will take over the search. Tips can be directed to the sheriff’s office at 425-388-3845.

Ben Watanabe: 425-339-3037; bwatanabe@heraldnet.com; @benwatanabe.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Everett mall renderings from Brixton Capital. (Photo provided by the City of Everett)
Topgolf at the Everett Mall? Mayor’s hint still unconfirmed

After Cassie Franklin’s annual address, rumors circled about what “top” entertainment tenant could be landing at Everett Mall.

Everett
Everett man sentenced to 3 years of probation for mutilating animals

In 2022, neighbors reported Blayne Perez, 35, was shooting and torturing wildlife in north Everett.

The Washington State University Snohomish County Extension building at McCollum Park is located in an area Snohomish County is considering for the location of the Farm and Food Center on Thursday, March 28, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Year-round indoor farmers market inches closer to reality near Mill Creek

The Snohomish County Farm and Food Center received $5 million in federal funding. The county hopes to begin building in 2026.

Dorothy Crossman rides up on her bike to turn in her ballot  on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Everett leaders plan to ask voters for property tax increase

City officials will spend weeks hammering out details of a ballot measure, as Everett faces a $12.6 million deficit.

Starbucks employee Zach Gabelein outside of the Mill Creek location where he works on Friday, Feb. 23, 2024 in Mill Creek, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Mill Creek Starbucks votes 21-1 to form union

“We obviously are kind of on the high of that win,” store bargaining delegate Zach Gabelein said.

Lynnwood police respond to a collision on highway 99 at 176 street SW. (Photo provided by Lynnwood Police)
Police: Teen in stolen car flees cops, causes crash in Lynnwood

The crash blocked traffic for over an hour at 176th Street SW. The boy, 16, was arrested on felony warrants.

The view of Mountain Loop Mine out the window of a second floor classroom at Fairmount Elementary on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
County: Everett mining yard violated order to halt work next to school

At least 10 reports accused OMA Construction of violating a stop-work order next to Fairmount Elementary. A judge will hear the case.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.