On Wednesday, July 10, 2019, the King County Sheriff’s Office said search and rescue crews located a man who died after going hiking alone in the Snow Lake trailhead area of Snoqualmie Pass on July 4th.
KCSO Sgt. Ryan Abbott said the 46-year old Renton man was an experienced, avid hiker and it was not uncommon for him to hike by himself. On July 4th family members discovered he was gone, along with his backpack, and assumed he’d gone hiking, but he did not notify anyone of his plans.
His family had no idea where he might have gone hiking and when he didn’t return home tried to file a missing person’s report, but because he’d taken long, solo hikes in the past, Sgt. Abbott said the missing person report wasn’t filed with the Renton Police Department until July 9th.
Following the report a KCSO detective who works closely with the Search and Rescue division located the missing man’s car in the Alpental area of Snoqualmie Pass – at the Snow Lake Trailhead.
Crews then began searching that vicinity. For safety reasons the search was halted Tuesday night and resumed early Wednesday morning.
Around 11AM, July 10th, search crews located the man deceased at the bottom of a 300 foot cliff. They believe it was a tragic accident – that he likely slipped and fell. Sgt. Abbott said based on phone pings, they think the fall occurred on July 4th.
Abbott said the tragedy highlights the importance of always letting someone know where you are going if you are hiking alone and bringing along the 10 essentials.
According to the King County Sheriff’s Office, the Medical Examiner’s Office will release the man’s name and cause of death once they confirm that information.
