Hunt For Man Focuses On Comet Falls -- Missing Editor's Rental Car Found At Mount Rainier

A search for a missing New York City book editor was being concentrated this morning in the Comet Falls area of Mount Rainier, 3 to 4 miles north of Longmire.

Joseph Wood Jr.'s rental car was found last night in the parking lot at Longmire, said Maria Gillett, a spokeswoman for Mount Rainier National Park.

Late this morning, Park officials learned that Wood intended to be back in Seattle last Friday at 3:15 p.m. to meet a friend. It indicates he did not plan to stay long at the park, Gillett said.

Also this morning, park rangers were notified that a hiker believes he encountered Wood last Thursday between 3 and 4 p.m. near Comet Falls, Gillett said.

She said a park-entry slip in the vehicle showed Wood entered the park at 12:29 p.m. that day.

Wood, 34, was last seen earlier that day at Unity '99 - a five-day convention of minority journalists that drew to Seattle more than 6,000 reporters, editors and photographers from around the country.

Comet Falls is reached from Longmire via the Rampart Ridge trail, then along a spur trail toward Mildred Point, said Gillett. She said the hiker encountered someone matching Wood's description in snow at approximately the 4,800-foot level.

"They were off trail but following the tracks of other hikers," when they met, Gillett said, adding that at that point, the two were in steep terrain above an unnamed creek.

The hiker said he turned around and was heading back because he felt a snow bridge over the creek was unsafe.

The hiker saw the man he believes was Wood continue up the trail the hiker was descending.

The hiker seemed pretty positive it was Wood, Gillett said, noting that the man had binoculars around his neck. Wood has been described as "an avid birder."

Wood never reclaimed his luggage from his hotel room, and friends have not heard from him since last Thursday when he spoke to Somini Sengupta, a reporter for The New York Times who also attended the Unity convention.

New York police said they have been searching for Wood since Sengupta filed a missing-persons report earlier this week.

Sengupta said Wood had told friends he was planning to hike last Thursday at Mount Rainier.

Before the hiker called this morning to report he may have seen Wood, bloodhounds had attempted to follow a scent from where his car was found.

There are several foot trails leading from Longmire, which is snow free at the 3,000-foot level. Hundreds of people have used those same trails during good weather in the past few days, and nothing unusual has been reported, Gillett said.

Searchers were headed into the Comet Falls area, and a helicopter will sweep the area, weather permitting, Gillett said.

Park rangers found a sweater in Wood's car and a briefcase with some clothing inside, Gillett said. It was uncertain how Wood was dressed when he left.

Rangers were told that Wood gained some mountain experience when he visited Mount St. Helens in 1992 or 1993 with a friend from this area.

Hotel officials said yesterday that Wood was supposed to check out of the Ramada Inn Northgate on Sunday but never did.

Detective Ramon Holm of the Seattle Police Department's missing-persons unit said Wood apparently had not been in the room for about five days.

Seattle police are not handling the case, Holm said. They are helping the New York Police Department with its investigation because the case was filed there.

"It's highly unusual for him not to be in contact with anyone for this long," Sengupta said yesterday.

Sengupta said Wood has a heart condition.

Wood has been a book editor at The New Press in Manhattan the past two years. Before that, he was a senior editor and columnist for The Village Voice, Sengupta said.

"Wherever he is, whatever happened, he is not able to make a call," said Wood's mother, Elizabeth Wood.

"He would call if he was able."