Around 6:30 a.m. on December 22, Fred King, a gas station proprietor in Portland, spotted Hickman at his service station, where he was again purchasing gasoline. King immediately reported the sighting to police, indicating that Hickman had driven away from the service station east, in the direction of the Columbia River Gorge. A bulletin was posted following King's report, and officers were stationed on all roads leading east of Portland. Hickman later admitted that, before departing Portland, he disposed of his California license plates, replacing them with two Washington license plates he had stolen from a car in Olympia the day before.
