Idaho avalanche victims from the Palouse identified

MCCALL, Idaho — The Idaho County Sheriff’s Department has identified two snowmobilers from the Washington Palouse who were killed in an avalanche near the Brundage Mountain ski area. Emergency crews recovered the bodies of the 44-year-olds, Matthew Cochran of Pullman, Wash., and Darren Felton of Colfax, Wash., nearly four hours after the slide was reported at 11:40 a.m. Tuesday. Earlier reports indicated both victims were from Colfax. The sheriff’s department says Cochran and Felton with a party of nine snowmobilers and triggered the avalanche, which measured five to six acres in size, near the central Idaho town of McCall. Authorities say the slide buried a third man, who the group was able to rescue.