WINLOCK, Wash. -- It was exactly one year ago Tuesday when heavy rains drowned much of the region in floodwaters, washing away homes and livelihoods. One person died in the flood but to this day, he still hasn't been found.

Richard Hiatt walked out of his home and into his back yard, and simply disappeared. His wife, Mary Anne Hiatt, came out to check on him.

"When I came out to find him, he was gone," she said.

Mary Anne figures her husband must have fallen into swollen Waller's Creek.

"That was all full and just a roaring like an ocean," she said.

Throughout the Chehalis River valley, swift-rising water forced the rescue of 500 people. The Lewis County sheriff is amazed there weren't more drownings considering how quickly and hight the water rose in places that don't typically flood.

But everyone survived except Richard Hiatt. Mary Anne thinks the steep bank gave way beneath him.

"I think that was it or maybe he slipped and couldn't catch himself, or caught himself on a tree and held onto it," she said.

Winlock police and county deputies have searched and searched for a year, but they've turned up nothing so far.

"My thoughts are that he was out here and God just took him, body and all. That's the way I feel," Mary Anne said.

Richard's son believes there's something more sinister in the disappearance.

"The son just seems to think he was never here. He thinks there was foul play. Well, there was nobody around," Mary Ann said.

But on the one-year anniversary of his disappearance, Mary Ann has a feeling of calm about it.

"I feel comfortable. I feel he's watching over me," she said.

A granddaughter has placed a marker and a wreath on the spot where family members believe Richard was consumed by the storm.