10:36 AM PST on Sunday, February 8, 2004

By ANTONIA GIEDWOYN, kgw.com Staff

CLACKAMAS -- Rescuers found the body of a missing deaf and blind man near the Bagby Hot Springs area of the snow-covered Mt. Hood National Forest on Saturday evening, authorities said.

Several searchers gather near Bagby Hot Springs. (KGW photo)

Monmouth resident Richard Thomas Melton, 26, probably died of hypothermia, said Jim Strovink, spokesman for the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office. Melton was dressed lightly--in shorts and a sweatshirt--when he went missing early Saturday morning.

The temperature in the area was about 35 degrees, with two feet of snow on the ground. Strovink said investigators didn't suspect any foul play.

Searchers found Melton's body just off the Bagby Hot Springs Trail, between the Bagby Hot Springs tub area and the Bagby parking lot. The trail is approximately a mile and a half long, and three feet wide and has rugged terrain, with steep drop offs of 20 to 30 feet.

The Monmouth resident was reported missing by his girlfriend, 25-year-old Luana Pollock. The two had been using the hot tub at the springs at about midnight Friday when they began arguing and Melton walked away, according to Clackamas County sheriff’s deputies.

When she couldn't find Melton, Pollock, who is deaf and mute, flagged down a motorist on Hwy. 224 at about 2 a.m. Saturday and communicated by a hand-written note, Strovink said.

In addition to being deaf, Melton was legally blind without his glasses.

Earlier in the day, two Oregon Air National Guard Black Hawk helicopters were used in the search for Melton. Several dozen search teams combed the woods--some on snow mobiles, others with search dogs.