Two Nine Mile teens drowned in North Idaho

Two Nine Mile Falls teenagers drowned early Saturday morning in North Idaho’s Lion Head Creek at the north end of Priest Lake. Identities of the victims, ages 16 and 19, were being withheld until relatives could be notified. Bonner County sheriff’s deputies said they were called to the Lion Head Campground about 1 a.m. by surviving members of a five-person group. The survivors told officers the teens were missing and presumed to be in the fast-flowing creek, about one-half mile upstream of the East Side Road bridge. Thirteen Priest Lake Search and Rescue volunteers searched the creek in three teams. They found the bodies about 5 a.m., behind a log jam below the bridge. Alcohol appeared to have contributed to the deaths, according to the sheriff’s office.