A Washington state hiker who went missing over the weekend was found dead 800 feet below a mountain trail on Tuesday, according to the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office.
Discovery of the Hiker
The 34-year-old man from Bothell, a city just northeast of Seattle, was reported missing after he failed to show up for work on Sunday. Authorities were informed that his last known location was on Mount Pugh, a peak near the western edge of the North Cascades northeast of Seattle, where he was hiking alone.
Deputies located the man's vehicle abandoned at the Mount Pugh trailhead, prompting a large multi-day search effort. The search involved members of the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office, volunteer personnel from Snohomish County Volunteer Search and Rescue, Everett Mountain Rescue, Skagit Mountain Rescue, Tacoma Mountain Rescue, Olympic Mountain Rescue, and Seattle Mountain Rescue Units.
Search and Recovery
During the first 12 hours, other hikers descending the mountain assisted search-and-rescue personnel in determining the missing man's last known location. Sheriff's office helicopters were dispatched, and from the air, crews spotted the deceased hiker's equipment at the top of a steep couloir, a narrow and vertical gully.
On Tuesday, the third day of the search, rescue teams were transported by helicopter to the couloir. They descended into the deep gully and found the missing hiker's body 800 vertical feet from where the initial personal hiking equipment was located. His body was recovered and transported by helicopter to Taylor's Landing, the Snohomish County Volunteer Search and Rescue headquarters.
Investigation Ongoing
The man's identity has not been publicly released, and the Snohomish County Medical Examiner's Office is working to determine his cause of death. This incident follows other recent hiking fatalities across the United States, including a Utah business owner swept away in an avalanche on Mount Makalu in Nepal, a composer who suffered a cardiac emergency while hiking Mount Wilson near Los Angeles, and a hiker found dead on a trail in New Hampshire after an unexpected snowstorm.
