Brandon Brown walked out of the woods and onto South Shore Road at approximately 8 a.m. today.

Brown, 34, from Humptulips, had been cutting wood with a friend April 18, in the area of Wrights Canyon Road, southeast of Lake Quinault, when he went missing. Numerous search and rescue groups, K-9 units and a King County helicopter equipped with a thermal imaging camera looked for Brown last Thursday and Friday.

According to Lt. Brad Johansson of the Grays Harbor County Sheriff’s Office, Brown stated that he had been lost in the woods since the 18th. He said that he spent three days sitting by a fire hoping to be found. His fire went out and he was unable to get another fire started, so he found a creek and spent the rest of the days following the creek down to South Shore Road. Brown said that he did not hear or see the search helicopter that had been looking for him. There are conflicts with the area Brown was reported to have been last seen and the area Brown describes getting lost in. The Sheriff’s Office is continuing to investigate the situation, trying to determine if searchers were looking in the correct area.

Family members took Brown to the hospital to be treated for exposure. Brown was able to drink water from the creek. The only food he had to eat came from some mushrooms he found. Brown lost a considerable amount of weight since he went missing.