Missing Camas mother found dead in Lacamas Creek ‘Potholes’

Photo by Kelly Moyer/Post-Record
First responders gather on an access road near Lacamas Park on Friday afternoon.

McRay had been missing since Wednesday and was last seen dropping her children off at school. Concerned family members reported McRay as missing after she failed to pick her children up later Wednesday afternoon.

Camas Police found McRay’s vehicle parked in the Lacamas Park parking lot, off of Northeast Everett Street, later that evening.

Alisha McRay

Portland Police Bureau’s Air Unit searched the park Wednesday, using a plane equipped with a FLIR camera.

On Thursday morning, the Clark County Sheriff Department’s Search & Rescue Team assisted in the search.

Family, friends and concerned community members scoured the park today, looking for any sign of McRay.

Around 3:40 p.m. today, Camas Police responded to reports of a body found in the Lacamas “Potholes,” a section of Lacamas Park known for its waterfalls, located in Lacamas Creek, south of the Lacamas Lake dam.

In a press release sent to media this evening, Camas Police reported that the location of the body made recovery efforts more difficult: “Members of the Georgia Pacific MERT Team shut the water off at the dam to allow rescue workers to safely retrieve the body. The Camas-Washougal Fire Department was able to recover the body and it matched the physical description of 40-year-old missing Camas resident, Alisha McRay.”

Police said McRay’s family later gave a positive identification. Police say they do not suspect foul play, and that they have turned McRay’s body over to the Clark County Medical Examiner’s Office.