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Searchers resumed combing The Northwest Territory on
Mount Bachelor today for a 23-year-old employee missing
since Saturday afternoon."She has not been found
as of yet," said Molly Moloney, a Mount Bachelor
spokeswoman at about 7 a.m. today. "The search
was suspended last night at 10 p.m. and they are going
back up there now."
Kate Svitek, a Mount Bachelor ticket attendant and
Bend resident has not been seen since noon on Saturday,
when she went snowboarding with friends. Her last known
location was in The Northwest Territory. Svitek was
reported missing after the ski area closed at 5 p.m.The
ski patrol began a search at that time and notified
Deschutes County Search and Rescue. The National Guard
sent a helicopter to join the search. The teams searched
throughout Saturday night and all day Sunday until the
search was halted at 10 p.m., she said. "It's not
uncommon for people to lose their way, but it's a new
thing to have someone lost this long," she said.
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Searchers traversed from the Northwest lift in pairs
throughout Sunday, tagging trees with orange survey
tape to mark areas in which they had already looked.
About 40 searchers, standing about 50 feet apart and
silhouetted against the setting sun, could be seen conducting
a grid search at about 3:30 p.m. Pat Gerhart, director
of human resources for Mount Bachelor, said, "her
friends are distraught over her disappearance."
Svitek began working at the mountain this season. Her
parents are flying in from Philadelphia, Gerhart said.
"We are giving this search our highest priority,"
said Matt Janney, director of mountain operations.
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