Organizers of a Saturday vigil for a 16-year-old who went missing in September hope the event helps the boy’s family feel less alone.
Amy Walcott, founder of a new nonprofit called Oregon’s Vanished, has been helping parents of Tristan Huang, the missing teen, search for him.
“We definitely want people to know that this is not a memorial for him,” Walcott said. “This is actually a sign of hope that we’re not giving up, that we are still looking for Tristan and that we’ll continue to look until he’s found.”
Oregon’s Vanished is a newly established nonprofit, but Walcott and a friend have worked with families of the missing for 14 years. The organization raises awareness about missing people in Oregon and has expanded to Washington.
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Huang was last seen the morning of Sept. 14 in the Ellsworth neighborhood. Investigators say he was seen on foot about 4 miles from his home in the 2300 block of 112th Court, and he took an Uber toward the Interstate 205 Bridge about 4:20 a.m. that Saturday.
He was then seen on camera walking up the trail toward the pedestrian path across the bridge, but the footage does not show him crossing the bridge, according to Vancouver police.
Huang may have fallen or jumped from the I-205 Bridge into the Columbia River, according to the Vancouver Police Department.
Walcott has organized searches on the Columbia River every other weekend with the help of volunteers who own boats. She said volunteers for future searches should contact her at OregonsVanished@gmail.com.
Huang is Asian, about 6 feet tall and 153 pounds, with black hair, brown eyes and glasses. Police do not know what clothing he was last wearing.
Anyone with information about his whereabouts or who has seen him since Sept. 14 is asked to contact Detective Jason Nicholson at Jason.Nicholson@cityofvancouver.us.
The vigil for Huang begins at 5:30 p.m. Saturday at Wintler Park, 6400 Beach Drive, Vancouver.
“Our hope is that it’s going to start with everybody gathering and having some time to let Tristan’s family feel surrounded by people that they know and by the public that they don’t know so that they don’t feel alone,” Walcott said. “Tristan matters.”
