Deng Vongphachan vanished while picking mushrooms, one of her favorite pastimes, on January 4th. Searchers found her truck off Low Divide Road in rural Del Norte County; her backpack was nearby and packed full of mushrooms.
Members of her family reached out to Redwood News, concerned that she has still yet to be found. One of her sons, Johnny Siharath, and one of her daughters, Noy, gave an exclusive interview to Redwood News, and stressed that she knows her way around the outdoors. “She’s been mushroom picking, you know, for 30 plus years. And so for her, you know, she’s a seasoned veteran in that sense,” Johnny says. “You know, she’s been doing it for a very long time. And as you well know, love the outdoors, go outdoors alone a lot.”
When asked how long Deng had been in the Crescent City area, her son laughed as he said, “Oh, gosh. Forever. I mean, there’s times where she would move out, you know, move out for a year. We would as a family, move out for a year, try some a different area. But she would always come back because she loved nature. You know, she loved the area. She loved the peacefulness.”
Deng, a practicing Buddhist is known for her love of family, nature and home cooking. Her story began far away from coastal Del Norte County. Noy speaks about her mother, “She was born in Laos. For those that don’t know where Laos is located, Southeast Asia, next to Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia. But we’ve lived in the United States since 1979. My mom has seven kids, five sons and two daughters, and she also has ten grandkids. Wow. And yet so my mom has raised her family mostly as a single, single mom. So as you can see right now, it’s very difficult and getting choked up right now.” Her brother, Johnny, rubs her back sweetly and continues.
Johnny clarifies, “When she came from Laos, she wasn’t an immigrant. She was a refugee. She ran away from, you know, communism, the war, everything. She’s one of those that crossed the Mekong River. She met with many hardships. She did really well in that sense, because all her children have become very successful, actually, you know, in our career path. And, you know, coming from poverty and whatnot.” He says, “To me, she’s just the best mother.”
Deng’s family remains persistent in their efforts to find her. two of her sons are in town and have been searching independently for weeks.
Noy: The search and rescue team was out there for five and a half days. For my understanding, there was difficult or severe weather that they had to experience that snowed rain constantly. The family members, all of us flew out there between January 6th through January 9th. So we were out there. Most of us was searching along with friends and the community was helping a lot
Johnny: it’s just like how everybody always just see these things that happen on TV. You know, you give a moment, you think about it like, you know, that’s pretty sad. And you just move on with your life. You never in a million years think this could happen to your family, but it’s happening to ours.
The family is pleading for help.
“Help continue to search, you know,” Deng’s son Johnny continues, “or even if so, maybe if anybody has seen or in any way, shape or form.”
Noy says, “We are forever grateful for everyone searching for our mom.”
Johnny adds, “You know, we’re just holding out for a miracle at this point.”
There is a $10,000 reward for any individual who locates Deng Vongphachan. Del Norte County Sheriff Garrett Scott told Redwood News that they have continued search efforts by drone, and on foot, and will not stop until she is found.
