Chase Morris, 16, last seen on foot in Bellingham; State Patrol issued alert

Washington State Patrol issued a Missing Indigenous Person Alert for Morris that evening. Its instruction to the public is direct: Anyone who sees Morris should call 911. Cascadia Daily News reported that instruction along with the teenager’s identifying details.⁠1

Whether Morris has since been located, or whether the alert has been cancelled, has not been verified. The official activation notice and a listing in the state’s alert archive establish that an alert was issued, not its present status.⁠2⁠3

Morris is described as 5-foot-6 and 135 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a light blue T-shirt and jeans, according to the alert as reproduced by Cascadia Daily News. Those are the identifying details supplied for recognizing him.⁠1

The clothing description belongs to the last reported sighting. It is not confirmation of what Morris would be wearing at a later encounter. Similarly, the report that he was on foot describes how he was traveling when last seen, rather than establishing his movements afterward.⁠1

The location is specific but limited: a block of Erie Street in Bellingham. The published account does not identify a destination or a direction of travel. Erie Street is therefore the last known location, not a documented route that can be extended beyond the sighting.⁠1

The alert also states, “Chase is autistic, but fairly independent,” according to Cascadia Daily News. That is part of the description authorities provided. It does not explain why he was missing or establish where he might have gone.⁠1

There is no basis in that description for filling in the missing hours with a presumed plan, behavior or destination. The useful distinction is between what could help someone recognize Morris and what is actually known about his whereabouts. The alert supplies the former; his movements after noon remain unverified.

The official notice on Washington State Patrol’s Forth channel is titled “Missing Indigenous Person Alert (MIPA) Morris - Bellingham, WA - ACTIVATE.” It carries an October 31 timestamp of 8:11:54 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time, documenting the evening activation notice.⁠2

Morris also appeared in Washington State Patrol’s Missing Persons Alerts Archive, with a reported date of October 31. That listing corroborates the alert’s issuance. Neither the listing nor the activation notice, in the information available here, establishes a subsequent located notice or cancellation.⁠3⁠2

That distinction matters for a public appeal. An activation is evidence of a request for help at a particular time. It should not be treated as proof that a search remains active indefinitely, just as the absence of a verified later update should not be presented as evidence that Morris has been found.

The sources serve different purposes here. Cascadia Daily News’s account supplies the physical description, clothing, last-seen circumstances and sighting instruction from the alert. The State Patrol notice and archive independently document issuance, but do not resolve what happened afterward.⁠1⁠2⁠3

The unresolved point is consequential: this account cannot tell readers that Morris is safely located, or that authorities are still seeking him under an active alert. A later official status notice would be needed to establish either outcome. Until then, the uncertainty should remain explicit.

For a sighting, the case-specific instruction in the published alert is 911. It is a direction to report seeing Morris, not an invitation to speculate about where he might be. The last confirmed details remain his reported appearance and the noon sighting on Erie Street.⁠1